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THE  DECORATIVE  ART  OE  CRETE  IN  THE 

BRONZE  AGE. 


Introduction. 

When  in  1878  Professor  Furtwangler  and  Professor  Loschcke  were  sort- 
ing the  fragments  of  painted  vases  which  had  been  brought  into  the  Polytech- 
nion  in  Athens  from  various  “Mycenaean”  sites  in  Greece,  they  found  that, 
“with  the  exception  of  the  spiral  and  of  a few  motives  derived  from  weaving, 
all  the  patterns  of  vases  with  lustrous  paint,  even  those  in  which  delight  in 
fanciful  combinations  of  lines  had  guided  the  artist’s  hand,  were,  in  their  oldest 
forms,  representations  of  natural  objectsd  The  material  available  for  a study 
of  Mycenaean  design  has  been  greatly  increased  since  this  statement  was  made, 
especially  by  recent  excavations  in  Crete.  There  ornamented  objects  have 
been  brought  to  light  from  all  the  successive  stages  of  a civilization  which 
extended  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  bronze  age.  The  object  of  this 
paper  is  to  ascertain  how  far  the  observation  of  Professor  Furtwangler  about 
the  pottery  known  m 1878  holds  good  for  this  wider  and  better  understood  field 
of  Cretan  decorative  art.  If  the  character  of  the  designs  of  Cretan  vases  be 
determined,  the  kind  of  ornament  which  appears  in  other  prehistoric  sites  of 
the  Aegean  basin  will  be  intelligible,  since  the  culture  of  these  places  will  be 
found  to  be  parallel  and  akin  to  one  stage  or  another  of  Cretan  culture. 

The  English  excavators  in  Crete  have  divided  Cretan  pottery  of  the  bronze 
age  into  three  periods,  to  which  they  give  the  names:  ‘Early  Minoan,’  ‘Middle 
Minoan,’  and  ‘Late  Minoan.’  ^ Each  of  these  three  periods  is  again  divided  into 
three  subdivisions.  The  Cretan  bronze-age  pottery  which  has  been  published 
is  arranged  according  to  these  nine  divisions  in  the  table  opposite  page  50. 
In  parallel  columns  are  arranged  according  to  the  same  classification  the  most 
important  decorated  objects  of  early  Cretan  civilization  other  than  pottery 
and  also  the  bronze-age  pottery  from  other  sites  in  the  Aegean  basin. 


‘See  Furtwiingler  and  Loschcke,  Mykcnische  Vasen,  Introduction,  p.  iv. 

^ See  A. Evans,  E's.sai  de  clastaifwation  des  (■■poques  de  la  civilisation  M inoenne,  iuu\ 
11.  .M.  Dawkins,  B.  S.  A.  X,  pp.  19.5  and  19(i. 


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TKAXSACTIOXS,  DEI’ARTMEXT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


References  to  the  publications  of  this  material  are  not  invariably  given  in  the 
text  but  are  always  to  be  found  in  the  tabled 

Classificatiox  of  Designs. 

To  apprehend  better  the  nature  and  importance  of  the  beginnings  of 
Cretan  ornament,  a statement  of  the  various  kinds  of  design  found  in  Cretan 
decorative  art  throughout  the  course  of  the  bronze  age  may  well  be  made  at 
the  outset.  These  designs  may  be  divided  into  two  main  classes: 

] . Imitative  Designs  in  which  there  is  representation  of  things  seen  or 
thought.  These  include: 

(a)  pure  naturalistic  designs  which  represent  in  a realistic  way  natural 
objects  or  other  naturalistic  designs  not  yet  degenerated  b_y  copy- 
ing,  e.  g.,  Fig.  1 ; 

(b)  conventional  naturalistic  designs  in  which  the  artist  accepts  con- 
ventional methods  of  representing  natural  objects,  e.  g..  Fig.  2; 

(c)  conventionalized  naturalistic  designs  in  wliich,  because  of  long 
periods  of  mechanical  copying,  representations  of  natural  objects 
are  remlered  in  a stereotyped  fashion,  e.  g..  Fig.  3; 

(d)  sacral  designs  which  I'epresent  sacred  objects. 

2.  Non-imitative  Designs  or  compositions  of  lines  for  the  sake  of 
balance,  rhythm,  and  harmony^  in  which  the  element  of  representation  is 
not  found.  These  include: 

(a)  simple,  stock  patterns,  like  spirals,  crescents,  dots,  etc. 


* The  titles  of  periodicals  quoted  in  this  paper  are  abl)reviated  as  follows: 

A.  J.  A.  = American  Journal  of  Archaeology. 

Arch.  Anz.  = Archiiologischer  Anzeiger,  Beiblatt  zuin  Jahrhuch  des  archaologischen 
Instituts. 

Ant.  Denk.  =Antike  Denkmaler. 

Athen.  Mitt.  = Mitteilungen  des  kaiserlichen  deutschen  archaologischen  Instituts. 

Athenische  Abteilung. 

B.  C.  H.  = Bulletin  de  corre.spondance  hellenique. 

B.  S.  A.  = Annual  of  the  British  School  at  Athens. 

’E<^.  = ’E<^ry/xepts  'Ap)(aioX.oyiKy]. 

J.  H.  S.  = Journal  of  Hellenic  Studies. 

J.  R.  I.  B.  A.  = Journal  of  the  Royal  Institute  of  British  Architects. 

Mon.  Ant.  =Monumenti  Antichi. 

Rdm.  Mitt.  = Mitteilungen  des  kaiserlichen  deutschen  archaologischen  Instituts. 

Romische  Abteilung. 

Transactions  = Transactions  of  the  Department  of  Archaeology  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania, 

^ Compare  D.  W.  Ross  in  Proceedings  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences, 
1901,  XXXVI,  No.  21,  p.  ;157  ff. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


I 


(b)  complicated  designs  made  up  it  may  be  of  simple,  stock  patterns 
but  constituting,  by  virtue  of  the  way  in  which  these  motives  are 
combined,  original  compositions,  e.  g..  Fig.  4. 


Fig.  1,  from  J.  H.  S.  1903, 
XXIII,  p.  189,  Fig.  8,  10. 


Fig.  2,  from  J.  H.  S.  1903, 
XXIII,  PL  V,  2. 


The  distinction  between  la  and  lb  or  Ic  is  a distinction  of  degree  for  in  Cretan 
decorative  art  close  studies  of  nature  are  rare.  Flowers  are  always  more  or 
less  conventionally  treated.  Yet  between  the  designs  of  Fig.  1 and  Fig.  2 


Fig.  3,  from  J.  H . S.  1903, 
XXIII,  p.  197,  Fig.  13. 


Fig.  4,  from  B.  S.  .4.  1902-3, 
IX,  p.  20,  Fig.  8. 


there  is  too  great  a difference  to  admit  of  their  being  classed  together.  The 
di.stinction  between  lb  and  Ic  is  this,  that  conventionalized  naturalistic  designs 
were  once  rendered  in  a more  lifelike  form;  convimtional  naturalistic  designs 
were  not. 

Earia  Minoax  1. 


From  the  first  of  the  nine  pm-iods  of  Cretan  bronze  age  pottery  very  little 
ware  has  been  found  and  none  has  as  yet  been  fully  published.  It  is  reported,* 
however,  to  be  similar  to  the  neolithic  ware'  directly  above  which  it  lies. 
It  is  handmade  and  jiolished.  Decoration,  when  it  occui’s,  is  ol)tained  by 

* See  A.  J.  I'A’aiis,  op.  cit.  p.  F>  and  H.  S.  .1.  l!K)3-4,  p.  22. 


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TRANSACTIONS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


incision,  puncturation  and  in  some  cases,  it  seems,  by  paint.  It  is  of  the 
simplest  linear-geometric  character. 

Earla"  Minoan  II. 

In  the  second  division  of  the  early  period,  the  same  sort  of  primitive 
technique  prevailed.  The  iiractice  of  incision  continued,  and  there  was  also 
in  use,  especially  at  Vasiliki,^  in  the  eastern  end  of  the  island,  a method  of 
decoration  which  consisted  in  firing  the  vase  in  such  a way  as  to  produce  a 
brilliantly  mottled  red  and  black  surface.  The  perfecting  of  this  and  of  other 
processes  of  surface  treatment  inherited  from  neolithic  epochs  were  throughout 
this  period  the  jiotter’s  chief  concern.  A lustrous  surface  on  a vase  is  obviously 
advantageous  for  practical  reasons,  and  for  aesthetic  reasons  also,  it  was 
probably  preferred  at  first  to  painted  decoration.  For  a polished  lustrous 
surface  affords  of  itself  a kind  of  aesthetic  pleasure  and  when,  as  at  Vasiliki, 
there  is  the  added  pleasure  afforded  by  the  contrast  of  red  and  black  patches 
of  color,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  such  decoration  would  compete  successfully 
with  painted  patterns  which  appeal  to  the  instinct  for  rhythm  and  har- 
mony of  line.  A typical  ornament  of  this  period  is  given  in  Fig.  5.  The 


Fig.  5,  from  Transactions  I,  Part  III,  PI.  XXV,  G.  V a. 

boldness  with  which  this  pattern  is  applied  to  the  vase  shows  a marked 
advance  in  decorative  sense,  though  the  design  itself  is  shown  by  Mr.  Evans  ^ 
to  have  been  derived  directly  from  the  incised  decoration  of  earlier  periods. 

Earla"  Minoan  III. 

In  the  third  division  of  the  early  period  a larger  proportion  of  vases  is 
painted.®  The  prevailing  color  of  the  paint  is  white  on  a slightly  lustrous 

' See  table,  opp.  p.  50. 

B.S.  A.  1902-3,  IX,  p.  98. 

^ The  presence  of  incised  vases  in  strata  of  this  period  is  attributed  by  Mr.  Evans  {B.  S. 
A.  1903-4,  Vol.  X,  p.  23)  to  Cycladic  influence.  Simple  incised  geometric  ornaments  con- 
tinued on  stone  vases  throughout  later  periods.  See,  e.  g.,  Mon.  Ant.  1905,  XIV,  Part  2, 
cols.  473-474,  Figs.  79  and  81,  from  the  earlier  palace  (Middle  Minoan  II)  of  Phaistos. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


9 


browTi  or  black  ground-paint  though  occasionally  the  design-paint  is  brown  and 
is  applied  to  the  clay  as  ground.  The  clay  is  well  sifted  and  baked  in  the  oven. 
The  use  of  the  wheel  probably  begins  in  this  period,  and  simultaneously  the 
fashioning  of  vases  out  of  very  thin  clay. 

The  commonest  principle  of  decoration^  is  a horizontal  band  of 
ornament  about  the  upper  part  of  the  vase.  Occasionally  several  zones  of 
ornament  appear.  Within  these  zones  the  fundamental  motive  is  the  zigzag, 


Fig.  6,  from  designs  in  Transactions  I,  Part  III,  Pis.  XXVI-XXXIII. 

an  inheritance  doubtless  from  earlier  incised  decoration.  The  simplest  design 
in  which  it  appears  is  shown  in  Fig.  6 a.  But  the  other  designs  in  this  figure 
have  an  up  and  down  character  which  suggests  near  relation  to  a zigzag.  The 
arcs  in  Fig.  6 h and  c are  direct  translations  of  the  zigzag  into  curvilinear  design 
while  in  d and  e,  if  the  circular  device  be  regarded  as  the  downward  line  in  a 
zigzag,  we  get  again  a scheme  which  is  akin  to  a simple  zigzag  line.  This 
period,  then,  is  marked  by  the  transition  from  rectilinear  to  curvilinear  orna- 
ment. The  cause  of  the  change  was  doubtless  the  established  use  of  the  brush, 
which  made  curvilinear  design  easy.^  The  quirks  which  enforce  the  arcs  in 
Fig.  6 c probably  owe  their  existence  to  the  use  of  the  brush  by  a turn  of 
which  they  could  easily  be  made.  They  enjoyed  a long  life  during  later  periotls 
of  vase  painting.^ 


' See  E.  II.  Hall  in  Transactions,  Vol.  I,  Part  III,  p.  198  ff. 

^ Compare  Duncan  Mackenzie  in  Phylakopi,  p.  250. 

^ See  Argive  Heraeum  II,  PI.  LV,  22,  for  an  instance  of  its  use  in  the  Late  Minoan  III 
period;  Athen.  Mitt.  190.3,  XXVIII,  PI.  XVII,  4,  opp.  ]>.  144,  for  the  geometric  period; 
Argive  Heraeum  II,  PI.  LIX,  18  a and  b for  “Proto-Corinthian”  ware;  Loses  atitiqucs  du 
Louvre  I,  PI.  43,  E 612  for  Corinthian  ware;  II,  PI.  56,  E 784  for  Italian-Ionian  vases. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  .suppose  that  this  pattern  was  adopted  in  every  case  from  the  preced- 
ing period.  Such  simple  ornainents  may  have  been  arrived  at  indepeiulently  many  times. 
A vase  of  the  Late  Minoan  I period  covered  with  this  pattern  was  found  in  a tliolos  tomb  at 
llagia  Triada  {Mon.  Ant.  1905,  XIV,  Part  2,  cols.  68.5-687  and  Fig.  4).  Sig.  Paribeni,  after 


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TRANSACTIOXS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


An  im2:)()i’tant  pattern  which  ajipears  as  a frequent^  motive  in  Early 
Minoaii  III  vases  is  the  spiral.  In  Egypt  spirals  were  painted  on  vases  in  jn-e- 
dynastie  periods,  but  in  Crete  up  to  the  time  of  the  Vth  and  Vlth  dynasties 
paint  was  not  widely  used  as  a method  of  decoration,  and  consequently  sj^irali- 
form  ornament,  which  is  not  easily  incised,  was  not  employed.^  For  seal- 


Fig.  7,  from  Transactions  I,  Part  III,  Pis.  XXVII,  XXVIII,  XXX  and  XXXII. 

stones  alone,  the  signs  of  individual  possession  and  authority,  did  the  toil  of 
cutting  out  a curved  pattern  seem  justified. 

pointing  out  the  fact  that  such  quirks  were  made  by  a single  stroke  of  the  brush,  suggests 
that  the  pattern  as  it  appears  on  the  Hagia  Triada  vase  may  be  a schematized  form  of 
ducks  like  those  which  occur  on  decorated  objects  of  the  iron  age  in  Central  Europe.  This 
suggestion  seems  entirely  improbable  in  view  of  its  appearance  in  so  early  a stage  of  Cretan 
art  as  the  Early  Minoan  III  period.  Equally  improbable  is  the  idea  that  this  pattern  is  a 
degenerate  cable  pattern  (Hogarth  and  Welch,  J.  H.  S.  1901,  XXI,  p.  82  and  Trans- 
actions, Vol.  I,  Part  III,  p.  201). 

‘ Mr.  Evans  op.  cit.  p.  6,  reports  spiraliform  designs  in  Early  Minoan  II  vases. 

^ In  Syra,  where  incision  continued  to  be  practised  during  the  Early  Minoan  III 
period,  the  difficulty  of  cutting  on  the  round  was  obviated  by  stamping  the  design  into 
the_clay.  But  this  method  seems  not  to  have  been  known  in  Crete. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


11 


Among  these  early  experiments  in  curved  lines  appear  several  patterns 
(Fig.  7),  which  have  a slight  resemblance  to  natural  objects.  Fig.  7 a,  b,  c.  d 
look  like  leaves.  They  are  the  counterparts  of  patterns  which  appear  again  in 
the  second  division  of  the  middle  period.^  In  Fig.  7 c appears  a pattern 
which,  were  it  from  a later  period,  would  be  called  a conventionalized  flower  or 
leaf.^  The  artist’s  task  was  here  to  decorate  a lozenge-shaped  piece  of  clay’ 
with  an  ornament  adapted  to  the  shape  of  the  field.  He  drew  two  chevrons  in 
the  corners  and  then  bent  their  ends  around  to  fill  the  central  space.  Again, 


h c 

Fig.  8,  from  Transactions  I,  Pa't  III,  Pis.  XXVIII,  XXX  and  XXXII. 


the  elongated  dots  of  Fig.  7 b give  the  effect  of  leaves  springing  alternately  from 
a stalk,  merely  because  they  are  tipped  on  end. 

Are  these  designs  naturalistic?  It  seems  improbable  that  the  decorators 
of  these  vases  ever  seriously  attmnpted  to  represent  natural  objects.  Rather 
in  experimenting  with  straight  and  curved  lines  in  their  search  for  balanced 
and  harmonious  decoration  they  happened  upon  designs  which  looked  like 


' Compare,  e.  g.,  the  upper  and  lowin’  hands  of  ornaments  on  the  eup  in  ./.  //.  S.  1908 
XXIII,  PI.  VI,  1. 

’See  e.  g.  It.  M.  Dawkins,  ,7.  II.  S.  1908,  X.XIII,  p.  2.')4.  Sindlarly  Hogarth  and 
Welch  call  ]jatterns  like  those  in  Fig.  7 degraded  leaves,  J.  //.  S.  1901,  XXI,  p.  82. 

’ This  sherd  is  broken  on  the  two  short  sides  oidy.  It  may  have  been  a part  of  an  open- 
work dish  like  the  much  later  lid  in  li.  S.  .1 . 1908-H10  I,  X,  |>.  224,  Fig.  7. 


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TRANSACTIONS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


natural  objects.  They  saw  the  resemblance,  and  it  pleased  them.  And 
here  we  see  the  prophecy  of  imitative  designs,  for  as  soon  as  the  artist 
feels  the  distinction  between  designs  which  represent  something  and  those 
which  do  not,  and  takes  pleasure  in  this  recognition,  the  history  of  imitative 
design  has  begun.  The  geometric  animals  in  Fig.  8 are  further  illustra- 
tions of  the  way  in  which  the  artist  put  together  types  of  natural  forms  out  of 
geometric  elements.^  The  bodies  of  these  animals,  apart  from  their  heads  and 
tails,  are  equivalent  to  the  hatched  triangles  and  circles  of  purely  geometric 
designs.  On  the  whole,  the  designs  of  this  period  furnish  excellent  illustrations 
of  a principle  which  is  confirmed  in  the  succeeding  Middle  Minoan  I period, 
namely,  that  naturalistic  designs  do  not  necessarily  begin  as  a realistic  repro- 
duction of  a particular  natural  object  but  as  an  arrangement  of  lines  which  suggest 
rather  than  picture  natural  forms.  Or,  to  put  this  principle  in  terms  of  the  classi- 
fication of  Cretan  pottery  made  above,  the  motive  of  imitation  which  produces 
designs  which  represent  something  does  not  operate  so  strongly  in  this  early 
period  as  the  instinctive  desire  for  rhythm,  harmony  and  balance,  which 
leads  to  experiments  in  composition  of  lines  and,  in  the  end,  to  pure  design. 
Accordingly,  since  the  designs  of  this  early  period  show  to  so  slight  a degree 
the  elements  of  imitation,  they  should  be  assigned  to  the  non-imitative  class, 
and  again,  since  they  are  simple  and  repeated  on  different  vases,  they  should 
be  assigned  to  the  simple  stock  group  within  that  class. 

Middle  Minoan  I. 

In  deposits  of  the  Early  Minoan  III  period  have  been  found  seal  stones 
with  designs  analogous  to  those  on  Egyptian  “button  seals”  of  the  VI  dy- 
nasty,^ which  ended  in  2475  B.  C.®  The  second  division  of  the  middle  period 
will  be  seen  to  be  parallel  to  the  XII  dynasty  in  Egypt,  which  dates  from  2000 
to  1788  B.  C.'*  Between  these  two  dates  was  the  Middle  Minoan  I period.  In 
passing  to  this  period  from  the  last  division  of  the  early  period,  we  pass  over 
no  gap,  but  merely  advance  a step  further  in  the  continuous  development  of 
Cretan  ceramics.  The  technique  of  the  pottery  of  the  two  periods  is  nearly 
the  same.  The  shapes  of  the  Middle  Minoan  I vases  in  B.  S.  A.  1902-1903,  IX, 
p.  305,  Fig.  5 are  scarcely  different  from  those  to  which  the  fragments  which 
we  have  just  examined  are  to  be  assigned.®  The  chief  change  in  technique  is 


' Compare  Edgar  ia  Excavations  at  Phylakopi  in  Melos,  p.  100  and  Pernier,  Mon. 
Ant.  1902,  XII,  col.  114. 

^ See  A.  J.  Evans,  op.  cit.  p.  7. 

® According  to  the  later  chronology  which,  however,  leaves  a margin  of  error  of  a 
hundred  years  either  way  from  this  date.  See  Breasted,  History  of  Egypt,  p.  16. 

With  a margin  of  error  of  only  four  years,  ibid.  p.  22. 

® See  Transactions  III,  p.  194  ff. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


13 


the  habitual  use  of  an  accessory  color  (red,  crimson,  or  orange)  to  enhance  the 
white  design.^ 

But  changes  in  design  are  more  important  for  our  purpose  than  changes 
in  technique.  In  general,  the  decoration  of  these  vases  is  reminiscent  of  the 
preceding  period.  The  tailed  spiral  in  Fig.  9 and  the  running  spiral  of 
Fig.  10  suggest  the  patterns  of  Fig.  6.  The  festoons,  the  cjuirks,  and  groups 
of  lines  in  Fig.  11  are  all  motives  which  have  appeared  before  (Fig.  6), 
while  the  older  linear  method  of  decoration  continues  unchanged  on  beaked 
jugs  (J5.  S.  A.  1902-3,  IX,  p.  305,  Fig.  5).  And  yet,  in  spite  of  these  similari- 
ties there  is  a marked  difference  in  the  decoration  of  the  two  periods.  In  the 
matter  of  syntax  of  design  the  patterns  in  Figs.  9-13^  show  an  advance  beyond 
Early  Minoan  III  design.  The  patterns  of  the  earlier  period  are  applied  in 
horizontal  zones,  each  of  which  consists  for  the  most  part  of  a single  decorative 
motive  repeated  a sufficient  number  of  times  to  encircle  the  vase.  But 
designs  of  this  period  are  applied  freely  and  with  far  fewer  repetitions  to  the 
decorated  field. 


Fig.  9,  from  B.  S.  A.  1902-3, 
IX,  p.  305,  Fig.  4. 


Fig.  10,  from  B.  S.  A.  1902-3, 
IX,  p.  305,  Fig.  5. 


In  Figs.  11  and  13  all  traces  of  horizontal  zon  s of  ornament  have 
disappeared.  In  those  vases  where  decoration  is  still  applied  in  zones  (Fig. 
12),  the  designs  are  more  elaborate  in  character,  a fact  to  be  explained  in  part 
by  the  possibility  of  contrast  and  variety  afforded  by  the  use  of  a second  color. 
This  increased  elaboration  of  design  is  the  most  distinctive  difference  in  kind 
between  the  ornament  of  this  and  that  of  the  preceding  period.  The  decora- 
tion of  Fig.  l 2 is  a careful  attempt  to  fill  a band  of  ornament  with  graceful 
and  harmonious  lines.  Though  the  curves  springing  from  the  oblique  hues  in 
this  design  bear  some  resemblance  to  leaves,  the  motive  of  imitation  hanlly 
enters  in  here,  d’he  shape  of  the  field  to  be  decorated  and  the  artistic  arrange- 
ment of  lines  within  that  field  were  (luitc  evident  ly  uppc'rmost  in  the  mind  of 
the  decorator.  This  design,  therefore,  should  be  assigned  to  the  non-imitative 
class  and  l)ccause  of  its  complex  character  to  the  second  division  of  that  class. 


' Mr.  Evanfs  noted  tlie  beginnings  of  polychioinc  painting  in  tlie  preceding  tOarlj’ 
Minoan  HI  period,  op.  cit.  p.  G. 

^This  vase  bcaaiuse  of  its  sturdy  .shape  I have  assigned  to  thi.s  Middle  Minoan  I class, 
though  its  decoration  seems  somewhat  later. 


14 


TRAXSACTIOXS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  AKCHAEOL()(iY,  U.  OF  P. 


Lastly/  there  is  to  l)e  noted  in  the  designs  of  tliis  period  an  increase  in 
naturalism.  The  tendrils  in  Fig.  12  and  the  leaflike  design  in  Fig.  13 
resemble  nature  more  closely  than  did  any  design  in  the  Early  Minoan  III 


Fig.  11,  from  B.  S.  A.  1902-3, 
IX,  p.  30.5,  Fig.  5. 


Fig.  12,  from  B.  S.  A.  1902-3,  Fig.  13,  from  Transactions  I, 

IX,  p.  303,  Fig.  2.  Part  III,  PI.  XXV,  A,  Ph.  II  a. 

period,  although  now,  as  then,  naturalistic  patterns  are  formed  from  recti- 
linear and  curvilinear  motives. 

Middle  Minoan  II. 

The  pottery  of  the  succeeding  division  of  the  middle  period  is  well  known. 
It  has  long  lieen  termed  “Kaniares  w’are”  after  the  local  name  of  the  cave  on 
Mt.  Ida,  where  it  was  first  found. ^ It  has  attracted  the  attention  of  scholars 
because  of  the  cpiantity  in  which  it  hasappeared  (see  table  opp.  p.  50)  and  because 
of  the  delicacy  of  its  shapes,  the  richness  of  its  color,  and  the  harmony  of  its 
designs.  In  contrast  with  the  thick  clay  and  sturdy  shapes  of  the  preceding 
period  we  note  here  a clay  as  light  and  thin  as  that  of  a modern  Haviland  tea- 
cup. The  cups  of  this  “eggshell  ware”  show  a variety  of  graceful  shapes, 
which  attests  the  high  degree  of  technical  skill  to  which  the  potter  has  attained 
(see,  e.  g.,  J.  H.  S.,  1903,  XXIII,  PI.  V).  The  ornamentation  consists  in  some 
cases  of  relief  work  but  more  commonly  of  polychrome  painted  patterns  applied 
to  a dark  body  paint.  The  chief  colors  are  white,  orange,  crimson,  red,  and 
yellow.  Such  perfection  of  technique  implies  a civilization  far  removed  from 

* A more  illuminating  example  of  complex  non-imitative  Middle  Minoan  I design  is 
shown  in  PI.  I of  B.  S.  A.  1904-1905,  XI,  which  has  been  issued  since  this  paper  went  to 
press. 

-See  Parnassos,  1886,  X,  p.  339  ff.  and  Rom.  Mitt.  IX,  p.  100,  Mr.  Dawkins  has 
pointed  out  that  this  name  cannot  properly  be  used  of  both  technique  and  period.  See  B. 
S.  A.  1903-4,  X,  p.  192. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIA  E ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


15 


i k 

Fig.  M,  from  J.II.S.  1901,  XXI,  PI.  VII;  ibid  ]90;i,  XXIII,  I’ls.  VI  and  VII; 
B.  S.  A.  190'2-d,  IX,  |).  ;I0.'5,  Fig.  -I;  and  Mon.  Anl.  189."),  VI,  PI.  XI. 


16  TRAXSACTIONS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 

primitive  life.  Similarly  the  designs  of  this  ware  imply  an  aesthetic  taste 
far  removed  from  primitive  art.  Occasionally,  still,  the  ornament  on  these 
vases  is  applied  in  zones  (Fig.  14  j),  though  more  commonly  in  an  undivided 
design. 

The  classes  into  which  the  ornament  of  this  period  falls  are  three:  the 
two  kinds  of  iron-imitative  designs — simple  and  complicated — which  were 
found  in  the  preceding  period  and  the  conventional  naturalistic  class,  the  ten- 
dencies toward  which  were  seen  in  both  the  early  Minoan  III  and  the  Middle 
Minoan  I periods.  Examples  of  this  kind  of  design  are  shown  in  Fig.  14. 
Fig.  14  h is  an  excellent  example  of  the  way  in  which  fiowerlike  designs  were 
made  up  of  familiar  geometric  motives.  The  stem  is  a zigzag  line,  while  the 
petals  are  represented  by  curls  and  the  center  by  a dot.  In  later  Mycenaean 
design  this  flower  would  be  called  degenerate  or  stylized.  Here  it  seems  to  be 
a new  invention.  In  Fig.  14  i another  circular  device  of  a dot  surrounded  by 
stamenlike  rays  is  shown.  In  Fig.  14 /the  decorative  border  design  of  the 
uppermost  and  lowest  zones  seems  to  be  a stiff  representation  of  buds  or 
fruit  and  stems,  though  this  design  is  Ciuite  possibly  a descendant  of  the 
running  designs  which  characterize  the  Early  Minoan  III  period.  Among  the 
conventional  repmsentations  of  leaves  the  designs  in  Fig.  14,  a-e,  should  be 
noted. 

This  group  of  designs  confirms  the  principle  stated  on  page  12  that  natural- 
istic designs  do  not  begin  as  realistic  reproductions  of  natural  objects,  but 
compared  with  the  designs  of  the  preceding  period,  thej^  show  decided  progress 
toward  the  achievement  of  a naturalistic  style.  It  may  be  that  the  beginnings 
of  this  style  should  be  assigned  to  this  period.  The  decoration  of  the  jar  in 
PI.  I,  Fig.  2,  is  certainly  very  similar  to  the  design  of  Fig.  1.^  However  that  may 
be,  the  conventional  naturalistic  motives  of  this  period  must  be  regarded  as 
representing  a stage  of  growth  intermediate  between  the  first  steps  toward 
naturalism  in  the  Early  Minoan  III  period  and  the  fully  developed  naturalistic 
style  of  the  Middle  Minoan  III  period. 

Non-imitative  designs  of  this  period  may  be  divided  as  before  into  two 
classes  according  to  their  comjilexity.  Among  the  simple  stock  designs  of 
this  period  are  the  following:  quirks  and  dots.  Figs.  15,  17  and  19;  festoons. 
Fig.  16;  spirals;  the  linear  geometric  ornaments  of  Fig.  17;  the  crescents  in 
B.  S.  A.  1903-1904,  X,  p.  15,  Fig.  4 a,  ibid.  p.  16,  Fig.  6,  a and  c and  Mon. 
Ant.  1905,  XIV,  Part  2,  PI.  XLHI,  2;  concentric  circles.  Fig.  18;  certain 
designs  appropriate  to  weaving  like  those  in  Figs.  20  and  21;  the  waved  lines 
and  comb  pattern  in  B.  S.  A.  1903-4,  X,  p.  16,  Fig.  5,  1;  various  forms  of 


^ The  lily  in  J.  II.  S.  1901,  XXI,  PL  VI  b,  seems  to  be  transitional  between  the  Middle 
Minoan  II  and  Middle  Minoan  III  style.  Its  orange  paint  connects  it  with  Middle  Min- 
oan II  vases  while  the  realistic  rendering  of  the  flower  is  after  the  Middle  Minoan  III  style. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


17 


crosses  and  rosettes,  Fig.  19  and  Mon.  Ant.  1895,  VI,  PI.  XI,  27;  B.  S.  A.  1903- 
1904,  X,  p.  17,  Fig.  6,  m and  b;  Mon.  Ant.  1905,  XIV,  Part  2,  PI.  XLII,  1;  J. 
H.  S.  1903,  XXIII,  PI.  VI,  1,  and  the  hooked  ornaments  of  Fig.  22.  Of  many 


Fig.  15,  from  Transactions  I,  Fig.  16,  from  B.  S.  A.  1903-4, 

Part  III,  PI.  XXV.  XI,  p.  15,  Fig.  4. 

of  these  patterns  nothing  more  need  be  said  than  that  they  occur.  In  case  of 
others  further  comment  is  in  place. 


Fig.  17,  from  Mon.  Ant.  1895,  VI,  PI.  IX.  Fig.  18,  from  Mon.  Ant.  1895,  VI,  PI.  IX. 

The  "comb  pattern”  in  B.  S.  A.  1903-4,  X,  p.  16,  Fig.  5,  1,  occurs  on 
Cretan  neolithic  ware,  J.  II.  S.  1903,  XXIII,  PI.  IV,  24  and  29. 


Fig.  19,  from  Mon.  Ant.  1895,  VI,  Fig.  20,  from  Mon.  jint.  1895,  VI, 

PI.  IX.  PI.  XL 

The  crescents  in  B.  S.  A.  1903-4,  X,  p.  15,  which  reappear  in  frescoes  of 
this  period,  are  a motive  which  is  characteristic  of  Samian  ware.  Poehlau' 
expressed  his  belief  that  this  motive  was  known  in  Mycenaean  art  ami  i\Ir. 


Alls  lonischen  und  Itnlischcn  Nekropolen,  p.  65. 


IS 


TRANSACTIONS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


^lackenzie  and  Mr.  Edgar^  recognized  that  this  belief  was  confirmed  by  the 
crescents  found  on  vases  from  Crete'and  Melos.  The  crescent  has  also  been 
found  in  the  late  Minoan  I period. 

Again  the  cruciform  ornaments^  cited  are  to  be  connected  with  both  later 


IMycenaean  and  Samian  design.  On  Samian  vases  the  cross  is  commonly  the 
central  ornament  of  a latticed  pattern  similar  to  that  in  Fig.  21,  a combination 
which,  though  not  actually  found  in  Middle  Minoan  II  ware,  is  yet  entirely  in 
keeping  with  its  character.  Identically  the  same  latticed  pattern  filled  wdth 


Fig.  23,  from  J.  H.  S.  1901, 
XXI,  PI.  VI. 


Fig.  24,  from  B.  S.  A.  1903-4, 
X,  p.  16,  Fig.  5. 


crosses  appears  in  Attic  red-figured  vases,  especially  as  an  ornament  on  cloth® 
Avhere  Ionic  motives  might  well  be  expected. 

The  distinction  between  the  simple  and  complicated  classes  of  non-imita- 
tive  designs  is  srimetimes  slight  and  cannot  always  be  made  with  certainty. 
Simple  patterns  such  as  spirals  and  quirks  are  used  so  much  that  they  belong 
to  the  artist’s  stock  repertoire  of  patterns,  while  the  complicated  designs  are 
rather  the  original  composition  of  the  artist.  A pattern  so  original  as  that  in 
Fig.  4 Avhich  belongs  to  this  period  wmild  certainly  not  be  often  copied. 


' ./.  II.  S.  1903,  XXIII,  p.  179  note  and  Phylakopi,  p.  122. 

^Compare  also  the  cruciform  patterns  on  “Kamares”  fragments  from  Phylakopi, 
Phylakopi,  p.  149,  Figs.  127-129,  and  those  in  J.  H.  S.  1901,  XXI,  p.  94,  Fig.  28. 

® Furtwangler-Peichhold,  Griechische  Vasenrnalerei,  PL  XX.  Compare  the  embroid- 
red  cloth  represented  in  the  Hagia  Triada  fresco  in  Mon.  Ant.  1903,  XIII,  Part  1,  PI.  10. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


19 


Other  designs  which  look  original  are  shown  in  Figs.  23  and  24.  But  in  some 
cases  it  is  impossible  to  say  whether  a pattern  was  common  or  not.  Again  the 
method  of  combining  simple  stock  motives  may  be  so  simple  that  it  is  difficult 
to  say  to  which  class  the  resulting  design  should  be  assigned.  A row  of  dots 
would  be  counted  as  a simple  design.  But  the  decoration  made  up  of  dots  and 
lines  in  J.  H.  S.  1901,  XXI,  PI.  VII,  9,  might  well  be  regarded  as  a complex 
design. 

Some  of  the  finest  designs  of  this  period  combine  conventional  naturalistic 
with  non-imitative  ornament,  as  for  example  Fig.  25.  With  the  exception  of 


Fig.  2.5.  from  5.  ,S.  4.  1902-3,  IX,  p.  120,  Fig.  7.5. 


the  groups  of  three  leaves  which  spring  in  pairs  from  the  four  corners  of  the 
design,  this  ornament  is  quite  similar  to  that  in  Fig.  4 which  was  taken  as 
Typical  of  the  complicated  designs  of  the  non-imitative  class.  But  from  the 
addition  of  these  leaves  a mixed  design  results.  Similar  groups  of  leat'es 
spring  from  a circular  motiA'’e  in  Fig.  14  e.  They  suggest  such  combinations  of 
leaves  and  spirals  as  that  in  Furtwiingler  and  Loschcke,  Myk.  Thon.  PI.  VI, 
31;^  Boehlau,  op.  cit.  p.  54,  Fig.  22;  p.  55,  Fig.  25  and  p.  81,  Fig.  36;  Nau- 
kratis  I,  PI.  VI,  3,  II,  PI.  VII,  5 and  Tanis  11,  PI.  XXVIII,  4.  Here  again 
Middle  Minoan  vases  seem  to  have  furnished  prototyjies  for  the  decoration 
both  of  Mycenaean  (Late  Minoan)  vases  and  of  the  vases  of  Samos,  Naukratis, 
and  Daphnae.  The  artistic  merit  of  the  decoration  of  this  period  varies  greatly. 
Some  of  the  mixed  designs  like  Fig.  25  and  ,7.  II.  S.  1903,  XXIII,  PI.  V,  1 and 
PI.  VI,  3,  rival  in  richness  and  harmony  the  designs  of  any  later  perioil  of 
Cretan  bronze  age  art.  In  other  cases  (Figs.  IS,  26  and  27)  the  designs  seem 


'Compare  the  stateineiit.s  of  Hogarth  and  Weidi,  J.II.S.  1901 , XXI,  p.  97,  that 
“Kamares”  patteriis  do  not  survive  in  the  .Mycenaean  style.  .More  analogies  between 
the  designs  of  these  two  period.s  are  noted  later. 


20 


TRANSACTION'S,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


to  have  been  less  .successfully  const  met  eel  and  a kind  of  distorted,  fantastic 
ornament  results. 

If,  in  oiir  attempt  to  understand  the  designs  of  this  period,  we  turn  for 
light  to  other  dc'corated  objects  than  vases,  we  are  disappointed  to  find  the 
material  at  hand  scanty.  Middle  Minoan  frescoes  have  been  found  in  small 
cpiantities  both  at  Knossos  and  Phaistos,^  but  they  have  added  little  to  our 
knowledge  of  the  decorative  aP  of  this  period.  Another  art.  known  to  have 
flourished  in  this  period  is  metalwork,  some  of  the  characteristics  of  which  are 
reflected  in  vases.  It  is  well  known  that  the  thin  clay  of  Middle  Minoan  II 
cu])S,  their  straplike  handles  and  their  knobs  made  to  look  like  metal  rivets 
were  affected  by  the  potter  with  the  purpose  of  making  his  ware  resemble  the 
more  co.stly  jiroducts  of  the  goldsmith’s  or  silversmith’s  art..^  Mr.  Evans 
thinks  that  in  the  matter  of  design  also,  the  potter  was  indebted  to  the  worker 


in  metal.  The  de.signs  in  B.  S.  A.  1902-3,  IX,  PI,  II,  1 and  in  Fig.  4 he  regards 
as  derived  from  metalwork.®  Put  this  is  a matter  of  probable  sunnise,  not 
certainty,  since  so  few  examples  of  the  metal  decorations  of  this  jDeriod  have 
been  preserved  to  us. 

Of  another  art,  however,  which  flouri.shed  in  this  period,  traces  have  been 
found,  and  these  traces  we  owe,  as  we  owe  the  relics  of  the  ceramic  art,  to  the 
indestructible  character  of  clay.  Among  the  Mitldle  Minoan  II  vases  found 
beiR'ath  the  “olive  press  rooms”  at  Knossos  were  found  clay  seal  impressions. 
I'wo  of  these  are  reproduced  in  B.  S.  A.  1902-3,  IX,  pp.  20  and  21,  Figs.  9 and 
10.  If  we  examine  the  designs  of  these  two  seal  impressions,  we  observe  ele- 
ments not  found  in  vases  of  this  jieriod.  First,  in  Fig.  9,  the  gem  cutter’s 

‘See  B.  S.  /I.  1901-1902,  VIII,  p.  24,  J.  R.  I.  B.  A.  1902-3,  p.  109,  Fig.s.  1 and  2, 
and  Mon.  Ant.  190.5,  XIV,  Part.  2,  col.  403. 

‘Compare  Hogarth,  B.  S.  A 1899-1900,  VI,  pp.  101  and  102;  ibid.  1902-1903,  IX,  p. 
314,  and  Mon.  Ant.  1903,  XII,  col.  113. 

2 See  B.  S.  .1.  1902-3,  IX,  p.  20. 


Fig.  20,  from  Mon.  Ant.  1895, 
VI,  PI.  IX,  1. 


Fig.  27,  from  Mon.  Ant.  1895, 
VI,  PI.  IX. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


21 


attempt  to  suggest  by  a wild  goat  and  plant  a scene  from  the  outdoor  world 
attracts  attention.  Nothing  so  naturalistic  or  so  original  has  appeared  on 
vases.  Equally  interesting  is  the  design  of  the  other  seal.  For  here  amid 
spirals,  scrolls,  quatrefoil  rosettes  and  other  decorative  motives  familiar  to 
us  from  vases  of  this  period  apjiears  a conventional  flower  which  resembles 
the  papyrus  blossoms  known  in  contemporary  Egyptian  art,^  and  in  later 
stages  of  Cretan  art.^  Again,  among  the  clay  sealings  found  in  the  remains 
of  a Middle  Minoan  II  building  to  the  southeast  of  the  Knossos  palace  was 
one  {B.  S.  A.  1901-2,  VIII,  p.  106,  Fig.  63)  which  showed  a lily  design  derived 
from  a Xllth  dynasty  scarab  and  two  others  {loc.  cit.  p.  107,  Figs.  64  and  65) 
which  bore  the  design  of  the  sacred  double  axe.  Both  of  these  motives  appear 
in  the  following  period  on  vases.  Two  conclusions  may  be  drawn:  first,  that 
the  gem  cutter’s  art  was  subject  to  Egyptian  influence  in  this  period,®  and 
second,  that  the  seals  of  this  period  anticipate  the  motives  of  later  vases.  The 
designs  of  seal  stones  seem  in  some  cases  to  have  furnished  inspiration  to  the 
vase  painters  of  this  period.  The  decoration  of  the  jar  in  PI.  I,  Fig.  1 , is  obviously 
adapted  from  the  gem  cutter’s  art  as  Sig.  Pernier  points  out  {Mon.  Ant. 
1905,  XIV,  Part  2,  col.  459).  The  circle  which  confines  the  main  part  of  the 
decoration  is  equivalent  to  the  field  of  a seal  while  the  spiraliform  pattern 
within  is  such  as  is  commonly  used  for  decorating  seals. 


Middle  Minoan  III. 

We  come  now  to  the  Middle  Minoan  III  period,  the  era  of  the  beginning  of 
the  new  palace  at  Knossos.  At  the  first  glance  over  the  material  available  for  a 
study  of  the  design  of  this  period  we  observe  that,  contrary  to  what  has  before 
been  the  case,  painted  vases  are  less  numerous  than  other  decorated  objects. 
Our  knowledge  of  the  character  and  tendencies  of  the  art  of  this  period  would  be 
far  less  complete  than  it  is,  were  it  not  for  the  lucky  circumstance  which  pre- 
served the  collection  of  small  faience  objects  in  the  “Temple  Repositories” 
of  the  Knossos  palace.  These  well-known  repositories  included  the  appurte- 
nances of  a shrine  of  the  snake  goddess,  conspicuous  among  which  were  the 
figures  of  the  goddess  herself  and  of  her  votaries.  There  were  also  found  a 
number  of  votive  robes  and  a series  of  small  models  of  shells,  fruit  and  flowers 


'Compare,  f . g.,  the  papyrus  blo.ssoms  from  a Beiii  Hasan  wall  painting  in  Borohardt, 
Die  ugijptische  P jlanzc.nsdule , p.  27,  Fig.  46,  and  the  later  Ptolemaic  treatment  of  the 
flower  in  ibid.  p.  42,  Fig.  68. 

''See  PL  II. 

’ For  further  evidence  of  the  influence  of  Llgyptiaii  XII  the  tlyna.sty  scarabs  on  seals  of 
this  period  see  A.  . I.  lOvan.s,  Cretan  PicUxjraphx,  p.  .'iS,  Fig.  49,  and  Pernier  in  d/o».  .\nt. 
190.5,  XIV,  Part  2,  col.  446. 


22  TRAXSACTIOXS,  DEPARTMEXT  of  ARCHAEOLOGA',  u.  of  p. 

which  had  served  as  offerings  or  as  ornaments  of  the  shrined  Since  these 
faience  objects  are  in  so  many  cases  painted  with  patterns  similar  to  those 
found  on  vases  and  since  their  decoration  involves  no  principle  foreign  to  vase- 
painting,  it  will  be  well  to  consider  their  designs  along  with  those  of  the  painted 
A'ases  of  the  period,  as  soon  as  we  shall  have  reviewed  the  general  characteristics 
of  Middle  Minoan  III  ware. 

Vases  of  this  period  may  frequently  be  recognized  by  their  dull  purple 
slip  and  powdery  white  paint.^  They  differ,  therefore,  from  the  ware  of  the 
preceding  period  in  the  loss  of  the  fine  black  glaze  ground  and  the  decline  of 
polychrome  decoration.  From  the  late  Minoan  I vases,  on  the  other  hand,  they 
are  distinguished  by  the  use  of  white  as  the  usual  color  for  the  main  design 
instead  of  for  mere  accessories  of  the  decoration. 

The  designs  are  applied  to  the  field  to  be  decorated  with  absolute  free- 
dom (see,  e.  g..  Fig.  1).  This  free  treatment  of  the  design  goes  hand  in  hand 
with  the  achievement  of  a purely  naturalistic  style. 

If  we  follow  the  order  of  the  classification  made  on  page  6,  we  shall  begin 
our  study  of  Middle  Minoan  III  ornament  with  designs  of  the  highly  natural- 
istic style  of  which  Fig.  1 furnishes  a good  example.  It  marks  the  acme  of 
naturalism  in  Cretan  vase  painting.  Ecpially  free  aiul  lifelike  are  the  grass 
pattern  in  B.  8.  A.  1902-3,  IX,  p.  50,  Fig.  26  d,  and  the  crocuses  in  ibid.  1903-4, 


Fig.  28,  from  B.  S.  A.  1902-3,  IX,  p.  82,  Fig.  58. 


X,  p.  17,  Fig.  6 b,  and  in  Fig.  28,  where  they  serve  as  decoration  of  the  votive 
garments  of  the  snake  goddess.  Most  of  the  ornaments  of  the  shrine  bear 
witness  to  the  same  love  of  nature.  Among  them  are  models  in  the  round  of 
fruit,  flowers,  flying  fish,  and  shells.  Shells  seem  to  have  been  a favorite 
decoration.  Hundreds  of  real  shells  of  the  varieties  still  known  in  the  island 
were  recovered  from  this  shrine  alone.  The  shell  appears  also  on  seal 
stones  (B.  S.  A.  1902-3,  IX,  p.  56,  Fig.  34)  and  as  an  ornament  on  a faience 
bowl  (ibid.  p.  73,  Fig.  51). 

Now  it  is  noteworthy  that  many  of  the  faience  objects  from  this  shrine 
are  to  be  closely  connected  with  Egyptian  faience  work.  Mr.  Evans  (B.  8.  A. 
1902-3,  IX,  p.  63)  has  pointed  out  the  following  affinities:  (1)  the  glaze  on 
these  ornaments  is  similar  to  that  on  Egyptian  porcelain;  (2)  the  faience 


' See  B.  S.  A.  1902-1903,  IX,  pp.  38-94. 

* See  A.  J.  Evans,  B.  S.  A.  1903-4,  X,  p.  8. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


23 


beads  found  in  the  temple  repositories  are  like  the  Egyptian  beads  of  the 
Xllth  and  Xlllth  dynasties  in  Egypt,  except  for  a slightly  smaller  perfora- 
tion; (3)  the  signs  found  on  the  pieces  for  inlay  correspond  to  those  used  by 
Egyptian  inlayers, ^ and  (4)  Egyptian  designs  are  copied  in  Cretan  art.  This 
evidence  proves  the  existence  of  Egyptian  influence  in  Crete  during  the  Middle 
Minoan  III  period. 

Of  the  two  types  of  flowers,  the  crocus  and  the  lily,  which  are  most  char- 
acteristic of  the  designs  of  this  period,  one,  the  lily,  is  known  in  Xllth  dynasty 
Egyptian  art,^  while  the  other,  the  crocus,  is  not  unlike  some  representations 
of  the  Egyptian  lotus.®  But  in  Egyptian  art  these  flowers  belong  commonly 
to  large  wall  paintings,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  attest  the  deeds  of  rulers. 
The  desire  for  decorative  effect  was  therefore  subservdent  to  the  desire  for 
historical  records.  The  flowers  which  are  introduced  into  such  paintings 
represent  commonly  the  background  for  fowling  scenes  or  the  like.  Though 
drawn  with  the  greatest  fidelity  to  nature,  they  are  crowded  in  stiff  rows  or 
groups  into  their  place  in  the  larger  scene.  Now  when  Cretan  artists  came 
to  borrow  types  of  flowers  from  Egypt  they  applied  them  to  their  vases  with 
the  greatest  freedom  and  with  a sense  for  decorative  effect,  trained  by  long 
practice  in  non-imitative  and  conventional  naturalistic  designs.  Cretan  flower 
types  are  for  this  reason  more  difficult  to  assign  to  a definite  botanical  species 
than  Egyptian  types,  though  they  give  a general  effect  which  is  more  realistic. 
A case  in  point  is  Fig.  29  which,  as  Mr.  Evans  has  pointed  out,^  is  an 
adaptation  of  the  lotus  clumps  of  Egyptian  art.®  Here  the  method  of  arrang- 


Fig.  29,  from  B.  S.  A.  1902-3,  IX,  p.  82,  Fig.  58. 


ing  the  flowers  is  the  same  as  in  Egyptian  art,  yet  every  trace  of  Egyptian 
stiffness  is  gone.  Generally,  however,  methods  of  combining  and  arranging 
flowers  were  not  borrowed  from  Egypt.®  On  another  votive  robe  from  the 
snake  goddess  shrine  {B.  S.  A.  1902-1903,  IX,  p.  82,  Fig.  58)  detached  blossoms 


‘ But  these  Egyptian  inlayers  lived  in  the  time  of  either  the  early  dynasties  or  of  the 
new  empire. 

^ See  Borchardt,  Die  dgyptische  Pflanzensdule,  p.  18,  Fig.  .30,  and  Petrie,  Ilairara, 
Biahmu  and  Arsinoe,  PI.  27,  5 and  6. 

® See  Beni  Hasan  I,  PI.  XII,  lower  register. 

*B.S.  A.  1902-3,  IX,  p.  83. 

®Seee.g.  Petrie,  Decorative  Art,  p.  50,  Fig.  128. 

* See  below,  p.  28. 


24 


TRANSACTIONS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCPIAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


are  painted  in  rows,  while  on  the  cup  in  B.  S.  A.  1903-1904,  X,  p.  17,  Fig.  6 b, 
they  are  scattered  loosely.* 

Conventional  naturalistic  designs  are  not  numerous  in  this  period.  Fig.  30 
shows  one  instam^e  of  this  kind — a fern  pattern — which  is  obviously  derived 


from  such  patterns  as  those  in  Fig.  14  6 and  c.  Other  instances  of  conven- 
tional representations  of  natural  objects  occur  among  the  faience  ornaments 
of  the  temple  repositories.  One  is  the  representation  of  rocks  or  of  the 


natural  surface  of  the  ground  which  appears  among  the  models  of  marine  life  in 
B.  S.  A.  1902-1903,  IX,  p.  67,  Fig.  46.  With  it  should  be  associated  a 
pattern  to  which  the  name  rock-work  pattern  has  been  given.  It  is  used  in 
marine  scenes^  and  it  frequently  defines  the  field  of  ornament  in  later  designs 


'C/.  the  restoration  of  the  lily  fresco  in  Phylakopi,  p.  76,  Fig.  64.  The  plaster 
fragment  from  Thera  in  Perrot  and  Chipiez,  Ilistoire  de  I’art,  VI,  p.  537,  Fig.  211,  and 
the  inlaid  dagger  from  Mycenae  in  ibid.  PI.  XIX,  opp.  p.  784. 

^ See  R.  C.  Bosanquet,  Phylakopi,  p.  70  and  A.  J.  Evans,  The  Prehistoric  Tombs  of 
Knossos,  p.  156. 


Fig.  30,  from  J.  H.  S.  1903,  XXIII,  p.  178,  Fig.  5. 


Fig.  31,  from  B.  S.  A.  1902-3,  IX,  p.  67,  Fig.  44. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


25 


on  vases. ^ Another  is  the  scale  pattern  used  in  the  faience  relief  of  a wild  goat 
{B.  S.  A.  1902-1903,  IX,  PI.  Ill)  for  the  same  purpose  of  representing  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground.  It  recurs  in  later  periods  (see  below,  p.  33),  but  with  no 
imitative  purpose.  The  third  conventional  naturalistic  ornament  from  the 
shrine  is  the  faience  pendant  in  Fig.  31.  The  two  flowers  at  the  sides  of  this 
ornament  with  curving  petals  and  solid  central  lobe  resemble  the  conventional 
Egyptian  type  of  lily.  But  here  there  is  no  more  naturalistic  treatment  of  the 
motive  than  is  found  in  Egypt.  The  manner  in  which  a third  lobe  is  added  in  the 
center  of  the  ornament  to  complete  the  symmetry  of  the  design  is  worth 

noticing.  It  makes  the  central  part  of  the  jiendant  to  consist  of 

which  we  shall  And  as  a separate  ornament  on  both  vases  and  frescoes  of 
later  periods.^ 

Lastly,  among  the  imitative  designs  of  this  period  should  be  mentioned 
two  sacral  patterns,  the  shield  and  the  double  axe.  The  former,  which  orna- 
ments the  rim  of  a faience  bowl  of  this  period  {B.  S.  A.  1902-1903,  IX,  p.  72, 
Fig.  49)  is  a decorative  motive  which  appears  frequently  in  later  stages  of 
Cretan  art.® 

Turning  now  to  the  non-imitative  designs  of  this  period  we  note  first  of 
all  the  quirk  {B.  S.  A.  1902-1903,  IX,  p.  75,  Fig.  54  a and  b),  the  persistent 
appearance  of  which  in  all  these  early  periods  of  Cretan  ornament  is  a strong 
argument  for  continuous  native  development.  On  the  upper  and  lower 
bands  of  ornament  from  the  jug  in  Fig.  32 — which  may,  however,  be  aMelian 


Fig.  32,  from  B.  S.  A.  1902-3,  IX,  p.  50,  Fig.  26. 

importation — and  in  ./.  II.  S.  1903,  XXIII,  p.  189,  Fig.  8,  Nos.  1,  2 and  3, 
appear  spirals  and  a pattern  called  liy  Mr.  Mackenzie  {ibid.  pp.  IGO  and  181) 
the  ripple  motive  and  derived  by  him  from  the  rippled  surface  of  neolithic 
ware.  This  derivation  seems  less  probable  now  that  our  knowledge  of  Early 
and  Middle  Minoan  pottery  is  mon^  extensive,  for  the  ripple  motive  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  in  use  during  these  early  periods. 

Among  the  more  complex  patterns  of  the  non-imitative  class  are  two 


' See  Fig.  39. 

^ See  J.  R.  I.  B.  A.  1902-3,  p.  130,  Fig.  81,  Mykcnische  Vascn,  PI.  I,  1,  and  below, 
p.  .39. 

^ See  Ha.sting.s,  A.  J.  A.  1905,  IX,  j).  285. 


26 


TRANSACTIOXS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


designs  from  tlie  voti\'e  robes  of  the  snake  goddess  (Fig.  33  and  B.  S.  A.  1902- 
1903,  p.  77,  Fig.  56b).  The  latter  linear  design  is  similar  to  a latticed  pattern 
on  a fresco  from  Knossos  (J.  R.  I.  B.  A.  1902-1903,  p.  129,  No.  76)  and 
to  the  latticed  tlecoration  of  the  preceding  period.  The  pattern  on  the 
votive  l)elt  in  Fig.  33  is  also  reminiscent  of  Middle  Minoan  II  design. 

The  class  of  mixe<l  designs  is  represented  in  this  period  by  the  pattern  in 
Fig.  34.  Except  for  the  added  grasses  this  pattern  too  is  typical  of  the  design 
of  the  preceding  period  (see  Fig.  4 and  Mon.  Ant.  1895,  VI,  PI.  X,  27). ‘ 


Late  Minoan  I. 

Large  cpiantities  of  pottery  of  the  succeeding  Late  Minoan  I period  have 
been  brought  into  the  museum  at  Herakleion  during  the  last  six  years,  but 
only  a small  number  of  these  vases  has  been  published  (see  table  opp.  p.  50). 
The  publication  of  the  excavations  at  Gournia,  which  have  yielded  more  of 
this  pottery  than  any  other  site,  is  shortly  to  appear. 

In  technifjue  this  ware  differs  widely  from  the  preceding.  Some  vases 
are  still  painted  in  the  fashion  prevalent  at  the  end  of  the  Middle  Minoan  III 
period,  that  is,  with  white  designs  on  a dark  paint  ground,  but  more  numerous 
are  vases  jiainted  in  a fully  developed  Mycenaean  technique  of  tlark  glaze 
paint  design  on  the  light  ground  of  the  clay.  Characteristic  is  a combination  of 
the  two  techniques  of  light-on-dark  and  ilark-on-light  designs  upon  the  same 
vase  (./.  If.  B.  1902,  XXII,  PI.  XII,  2).^  Characteristic  also  of  this  period 
is  the  use  of  superadded  white.  The  eyes  of  spirals  are  commonly  ornamented 
with  a circle  of  Avhite  dots,  and  bands  of  dark  paint  are  often  used  as  the  back- 
ground for  rows  of  dots  or  leaf-like  splashes  of  white  (./.  H.  S.  1903,  XXIII, 
p.  106,  Fig.  7,  and  forthcoming  Gournia  publication).  This  practice  must  be 
regarded  as  the  continuation  of  Middle  Minoan  II  technique. 


* Mr.  Evans  notes  that  this  design  is  analogous  to  Egyptian  Middle  Empire  decoration. 
^ Combinations  of  the  two  techniques  are  known  as  early  as  the  Middle  Minoan  II 
period.  See  J.  II.  S.  1903,  XXIII,  p.  177,  and  PI.  VI,  4. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


27 


Pure  naturalistic  designs  are  numerous  in  this  period.  Among  those 
which  have  appeared  in  earlier  epochs  are  the  grass  patterns  of  Fig.  35/  which 
may  be  compared  with  PI.  II,  Fig.  2 and  B.  S.  A.  1902-1903,  IX,  p.  50,  Fig.  26  d; 
the  lily  of  J.  H.  S.  1902,  XXII,  PL  XII,  3,  which  may  be  compared  with  Fig. 
1;  and  the  crocus,  which  is  a common  ornament  both  on  Gournia  vases  of  this 
period,  and  in  Middle  Minoan  III  design.  Two  other  survivals  of  earlier 
decoration  are  to  be  seen  in  the  marguerites  of  the  Gournia  vases  and  in  such 
foliate  sprays  as  those  which  decorate  the  neck  of  the  jug  in  Fig.  36.^  The 


Fig.  35,  from  J.  H.  S.  1903, 
XXIII,  p.  253,  Fig.  17. 


Fig.  36,  from  Mon.  Ant.  1902, 
XII,  PI.  VIII. 


marguerites  must  be  regarded  as  the  descendant  of  the  stiff  rosettes  of  Middle 
Minoan  II  pottery.  Fig.  14  /,  j,  k,  and  the  foliate  sprays  of  the  Early  Minoan 
III  ornaments  in  Fig.  7 b. 

Pure  naturalistic  patterns  which  have  not  occurred  before  are:  (1)  the 
tendril  pattern.  Fig.  37;  (2)  the  ivy  or  heartshaped  leaf,  Fig.  38;  (3)  the 
nymphsea,  J.  II.  S.  1902,  XXII,  PI.  XII,  2,  and  marine  designs,  including  (4) 
the  octopus;  (5)  the  nautilus;  (6)  the  Triton  shell,  and  (7)  seaweed.  The 
first  two  of  this  naturalistic  group  with  their  waving  stalks  and  alternating 
leaves  are  examples  of  the  type  of  design  which  Riegl  regarded  as  so  important 
a contribution  to  early  ornament  (Stilfragen,  p.  120  ff.  Figs.  50  and  52). 
The  fragment  from  Thera  used  by  him  as  an  illustration  dates  from  the  period 
under  discussion.  These  graceful  and  decorative  designs,  which  stand  in 
marked  contrast,  indeed,  to  the  art  of  Egypt  and  Assyria,  are  in  accord  with 


'Compare  contemporary  Thera  and  Melo.s  vase.s,  Perrot  and  Chipiez,  Histoire  de 
I’art,  p.  909,  Fig.  1.59,  and  Phylakopi,  PI.  XIX,  9 and  10,  and  PI.  XXVH,  2. 

^Compare  the  foliate  sprays  on  Thera  vases,  Perrot  and  Cliipiez,  op.  cit.  VI,  p.  908, 
Fig.  457,  and  on  the  Ilagia  Triada  fresco  in  Mon.  .Ant.  XIII,  PI.  10. 


2S 


TRANSACTIONS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


the  spirit  of  earlier  Cretan  art.  As  far  back  as  the  Early  Minoan  III  period, 
Cretan  artists  showed  an  interest  in  curvilinear  design  and  an  unerring  sense 
of  decorative  effect.  Thus  this  tendril  pattern  may  well  be  comiiared  with  the 
designs  in  Transactions  1905,  Vol.  I,  Part  III,  PI.  XXVII,  11  and  PL  XXXIII,  5. 
The  ivy  leaf  of  Fig.  3S  is  neann-  to  nature  than  most  of  the  naturalistic  designs 
of  Cretan  art,  as  may  be  seen  by  comparing  it  with  the  illustration  on  page  49, 
which  is  made  from  a photograph  of  a natural  ivy,  growing  today  in  Greece. 

The  nymphaea  blossoms  which  predominate  in  the  central  band  of  • 
decoration  in  the  Zakro  pit  jar  (.7.  II.  S.  1902,  XXII,  PI.  XII,  2)  have  been 
shown  by  IMr.  Hogarth  {ibid.  pp.  336  and  337)  to  be  an  adaptation  by  the 
Cretan  artists  of  an  Egyptian  motive.  The  Egyptian  flower  is  stiff  and  for- 


Fig.  .37,  from  J.  II.  S.  1903, 

XXIII,  p.  249,  Fig.  3. 

mal,  the  Cretan  graceful  and  free,  though,  as  Mr.  Hogarth  points  out,  the 
Egyptian  type  is  nearer  to  an  actual  form  in  nature  than  are  the  flowing 
blossoms  on  the  Cretan  vase.  The  nymphaea  thus  confirms  the  story  told  by 
the  lily  type  of  ornament,  viz. : that  Egypt  furnished  formal  types  which  the 
Cndan  artists  made  over  into  a more  naturalistic  style  of  their  own.^ 

The  Middle  Minoan  HI  ornaments  from  the  shrine  of  the  snake-goddess 
at  Knossos  have  already  borne  witness  to  the  interest  of  the  Cretan  artist  in 
marine  life.  It  is  not  surprising,  accordingly,  that  in  this  period  pictures  of 
sea  life  should  begin  to  appear  on  vases.  On  Gournia  pottery  of  this  period 
appear  the  octopus,^  the  nautilus,  fronds  of  seaweed  and  the  conventional 
pattern  called  by  Mr.  Bosanquet  sea  anemones,^  while  on  a vase  from  Hagia 


Fig.  38,  from  J.  II . S.  1903, 
XXIII,  p.  252,  Fig.  15. 


‘ Riegl,  who  studied  Mycenaean  design  before  much  pottery  prior  to  the  late  Minoan  I 
period  was  known,  maintained  {op.  cit.  p.  45,  and  passim.)  that  the  “Mycenaean”  genius 
consisted  chiefly  in  this  ability  to  convert  conventional  into  lifelike  designs.  Though  at  the 
end  of  his  discussion  (p.  134)  he  admitted  .some  few  patterns,  chiefly  marine  designs,  which 
were  native  to  “Mycenaean”  art.  This  list  must  now  be  materially  increased.  The 
originality  of  Cretan  artists,  moreover,  has  been  established  beyond  doubt  by  such  works  of 
art  as  the  Harvester’s  Vase  {Mon.  Ant.  XIII,  PI.  I-III)  and  the  faience  relief  of  a wild 
goat  and  young  from  Ivnossos  {B.  S.  A.  1902-1903,  IX,  PI.  III.) 

’^Transactions,  Vol.  I,  No.  I,  p.  43,  Fig.  21,  and  forthcoming  publication. 

^J.II.  S.  1904,  XXIV,  p.  319 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


29 


Triada  {Mon.  Ant.  1903,  XIII,  col.  65,  Fig.  52)  appear  Triton  shells  against  a 
background  of  a scale  pattern  to  be  considered  later.‘ 

A thorough  and  appreciative  study  of  Cretan  marine  designs  has  recently 
been  published  by  Mr.  Bosanquet  {J.  H.  S.  1904,  XXIV,  pp.  320-322).  It 
remains  here  merely  to  state  the  fact  of  the  appearance  of  this  class  of  vases  in 
this  period  and  to  point  out,  for  the  sake  of  comparison  with  later  convention- 
alized marine  motives,  the  lifelike  form  in  which  they  here  occur.  An  excep- 
tion to  this  naturalistic  rendering  is  the  decoration  of  the  jug  in  Fig.  39.^ 
The  streamers  which  curve  about  between  the  two  bands  of  rock-work  pattern 


Fig.  39,  from  B.  S.  A.  1902-3,  X,  p.  28.5,  Fig.  5. 

are  generally  regarded  as  fronds  of  algae.  But  the  artist’s  desire  is  not  so 
much  to  represent  sea  life  as  to  arrange  graceful  and  harmonious  combina- 
tions of  lines,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  insertion  of  the  stop-gap  ornament  below 
the  spout.  The  design  is  accordingly  conventional  naturalistic. 

Another  ornament  of  this  class  is  the  leaf  pattern  in  ,/.  II.  S.  XXIII,  p. 
253,  Fig.  16,  which  is  a common  pattern  in  the  succeeding  period  (see,  e.  g., 
PI.  III). 

On  the  nympluea  vase  from  the  Zakro  pit  is  a heartshaped  leaf  conven- 
tionally drawn  which  recalls:  (1)  Fig.  7 c of  the  Early  Minoan  III  period;  (2)  the 
faience  pendant  of  the  Middle  Minoan  111  |)priod  (Fig.  31);  (3)  the  naturalistic 


‘The  Zakro  filler  with  marine  desigirs  in  ./.  II.  S.  1902,  XXII,  PI.  XII,  1,  I have  not 
included  in  this  period  since  in  general  the  Zakro  houses  from  which  it  comes  are  later 
than  the  pits.  Put  too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  laid  on  the  fact  that  the  divisions 
between  these  periods  are  more  or  less  arbitrary  and  that  the  different  styles  characterizing 
them  overlap.  Thus  the  Zakro  bowls  with  tendril  pattern  painted  in  white  (Fig.  37)  are 
from  the  very  beginning  of  this  period  a.s  possibly  the  Zakro  filler  in  question  may  be  from 
the  end. 

^ Ikxactly  the  same  design  recurs  in  'Ap)(.  1889,  PI.  7,  19. 


30 


TR  \XSACTIOXS,  DERARTMEXT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


ivy  leaf  of  Fig.  38,  ami  (4)  the  ornament  in  Fig.  36.  No  V)etter  illustration 
could  be  found  of  the  varied  sources  of  Cretan  art,  than  is  afforded  by  a com- 
parison of  these  patterns.  The  ivy  leaf  of  Fig.  38  we  saw  to  be  derived  from 
nature. ‘ On  the  contrary  the  type  shown  in  Fig.  7 c owed  its  origin  to  curved 
lines  drawn  with  reference  to  the  shape  of  the  field  to  be  decorated.^  Midway 
between  these  two  extremes  stands  the  slightly  conventional  leaf  under  discus- 
sion (the  lobes  of  this  leaf  are  represented  by  spirals),  the  highly  conventional 
design  of  Fig.  31,  in  which  the  ivy  or  heartshaped  motive  is,  as  it  were,  a by- 
product, and  the  pattern  in  Fig.  36.  The  ornament  in  the  center  of  the  design 
in  Fig.  36  is  equivalent  to  the  centrallobe  of  the  conventional  type  of  lily  (see 
Fig.  52).  Its  appearance  within  the  ivy  leaf  may  have  reference  to  one  or 
both  of  the  following  facts:  the  two  recurving  ends  of  the  ivy  leaf  suggest  the 
two  leaves  between  which  a conventional  flower  is  connnonly  set  (Fig.  51)  and 
its  shape  is  well  adapted  to  the  shape  of  the  central  space  of  the  ivy  leaf. 
The  same  facts  will  account  for  the  outer  flowerlike  appendage,  since  it 
rounds  out  the  ornament  in  this  direction  and  since  flowers  are  sometimes  set 
between  leaves  which  curve  in  toward  the  flower  instead  of  away  from  it  as 
in  nature.  (See,  e.  g.,  the  Egyptian  ornament  in  Fig.  40  and  the  small  flow'ers 
in  J.  II.  N.  1904,  XXIV,  PI.  XIII.®) 


Fig.  40,  from  the  Cairo  Museum  Catalog,  No.  24071. 

Another  pattern  foretold  by  the  collection  of  faience  objects  from  the 
temple  repositories  of  Knossos  is  the  “rock-work”  pattern  Avhich  begins  in 
this  perio(P  to  be  used  as  a means  of  defining  the  edges  of  a zone  of  ornament. 
The  only  case  of  it  I can  cite  in  this  period  (Fig.  39)  may  not  seem  to  justify  its 
name,  but  on  an  unpublished  vase  from  Gournia,  flowers  spring  from  between 
the  lobes  of  this  pattern.  It  should  Ire  connected  with  the  more  elaborate 
honeycombed  rock-work  of  marine  designs.  Both  these  conventional  repre- 
sentations are  combined  with  perfectly  naturalistic  ornaments. 

* Compare  Phylakopi,  PI.  XVII,  32  and  PL  XIX,  1. 

^ Compare  Mon.  Ant.  1905,  XIV,  Part  2,  col.  487,  Figs.  91  and  92. 

^ Mr.  Edgar’s  e.xplaiiation  of  this  pattern  Phylakopi,  p.  131,  that  it  is  derived  from  the 
type  of  pattern  in  Schliemann,  Tiryns,  PI.  V,  seems  to  me  improbable  in  view  of  the 
widespread  use  of  the  ivy  leaf  or  heartshaped  motive  in  Mycenaean  as  in  all  design. 

* See  below,  p.  39. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


31 


Finally,  in  taking  leave  of  the  imitative  designs  of  this  period  we  note  on 
Gournia  vases  the  reappearance  of  the  double  axe  motive. 

Some  of  the  non-imitative  designs  of  this  period  are  of  the  simplest  recti- 
linear and  curvilinear  geometric  type.  The  ornament  on  the  beaked  'ug  in  Fig. 
41,  which  recurs  on  Gournia  vases,  is  one  which  it  would  not  be  surprising  to  find 


Fig.  41,  from  Mon.  Ant.  1905,  XIV, 
col.  687,  Fig.  5. 


Fig.  42,  from  J.  H.  S.  1902, 
XXII,  PI,  XII. 


on  neolithic  pottery.  Similarly  there  is  to  be  noted  the  frequent  use  of  wave 
lines  (Fig.  42).  The  waved  lines  associated  with  dots  in  Fig.  45  Mr.  Daw- 
kins connects^  with  Middle  Minoan  decorations.  A decoration  composed  of 
circles  on  a dotted  background  which  is  frequent  on  Gournia  vases  is  perhaps 


Fig.  43,  from  J.  H.  S.  1903,  XXIII, 
p.  196,  Fig.  12. 


Fig.  44,  from  J H.  S.  1903,  XXIII, 
p.  251 , Fig.  14. 


a progenitor  of  the  flower  in  Fig.  43.  If  so,  here  is  lurther  evidence  for  the 
slight  distinction  felt  between  naturalistic  and  conventional  patterns.  The 
Cjuirk  remains  in  use  during  this  period,  both  as  a border  motive  and  as  a 
means  of  ornamenting  the  entire  surface  of  a vase.  The  spirals  of  this  period 


' .7.  II.  S.  1903,  XXIII,  p.  2.54. 


32 


TRANSACTIONS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


frequently  occur  in  this  form;  and  their  centers 

are  further  ornamented  \ with  white  dots.  A 

shortened  form  of  cres-  cent  is  a stop-gap  orna- 

ment used  in  tliis  period  (Fig.  44),  though  possibly  it  may  have  been  intended 
for  a representation  of  the  stamens  of  a flower,  since  it  is  used  to  top  the 
stalks  in  Figs.  38  and  52  Z.  Here  again  we  have  witness  of  the  ingenuity 
and  skill  of  the  Cretan  potter  in  obtaining  naturalistic  effects  out  of  unpromising 
material.  The  whorl  used  as  a background  for  the  lilies  in  Fig.  42  and  as  the 
main  scheme  of  ornament  in  Fig.  45  is  characteristic,  both  of  this  and  of  the 
succeeiling  Late  Minoan  II  period.  The  ripple  pattern  (see  Fig.  32)  is  as 
frequent  in  this  as  in  the  Middle  Minoan  III  period. 


Fig.  45,  from  J.  II  S.  1903,  XXIII,  p.  253,  Fig.  18. 

By  far  the  most  interesting  of  the  non-imitative  patterns  of  this  period 
is  the  scale  pattern  in  Fig.  46,  which  recurs  on  a Gournia  hugelkanne  of  this 
period.  This  pattern,  described  by  Perrot  and  Chipiez  (op.  cit.  VI,  1,  p.  542)  as 


Fig.  46.  Pattern  ii.sed  for  background  in  the  marine  design 
in  Mon.  Ant.  1903,  Xil.Part  I,  col.  65,  Fig.  52. 

a lozenge-shaped  ornament  with  curved  sides,  is  one  of  tlie  most  characteristic 
patterns  of  Mycenaean  art.  Mr.  Edgar  (see  Phylakopi,  p.  114  and  PI.  XVI,  13, 
and  PI.  XVIII,  2,  7,  14,  etc.)  thought  it  began  at  Phylakopi  as  a border  pattern 
of  trefoil  curves,  detached  or  running,  but  there  should  not  be  left  out  of 
account  the  facts:  (1)  that  in  Egypt  a scale  pattern  was  used  to  indicate 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


33 


the  plumage  of  birds  as  early  as  the  first  dynasty/  (2)  that  this  pattern 
acquired  central  stalks  (Fig.  47)  as  early  as  the  Xllth  dynasty/  and  (3) 
that  this  Egyptian  type  was  known  in  Crete,  for  it  appears  on  unpublished 
fragments  from  the  Knossos  houses  and  in  the  preceding  period  as  a repre- 
sentation of  the  natural  ground  in  the  faience  plaque  of  the  wild  goat.^  The 
change  to  the  more  graceful  trefoil  shape  of  scale  must  be  ascribed  to  the 
artistic  taste  of  Cretan  potters.  Bits  of  ivory  and  paste  of  this  shape  have 
been  found  both  at  Knossos  and  at  Spata.^  Some  of  the  pieces  from 
Knossos  were  pierced  centrally,  probably  for  the  insertion  of  an  ornament 
corresponding  to  that  which  generally  characterizes  the  pattern  on  vases.  It 
is  evident  that  the  trefoil  curves  of  these  scales  were  advantageous  for  inlay, 
although  scales  of  the  simpler  Egyptian  type  were  also  used  for  this  purpose 


Fig.  47.  Pattern  used  in  Egyptian  decorative  art  in  the  Xllth  dynasty. 

(d/on.  Ant.  1902,  XII,  cols.  93  and  94,  Fig.  28).  The  pattern  became  a favorite 
one  not  only  because  it  was  adapted  to  inlay  and  to  filling  large  areas  of  vase 
surface  but  also  because,  in  view  of  its  graceful  outlines,  it  made  a background 
not  inappropriate  for  a natural  scene.  To  such  an  end  it  is  used  in  Mon. 
Ant.  1903,  XII,  Part  I,  col.  65,  Fig.  52,  and  in  the  steatite  relief  of  an  archer 
in  B.  S.  A.  1899-1900,  VII,  p.  44,  Fig.  13. 

An  excellent  example  of  a mixed  design  which  combines  imitative  and 
non-imitative  is  yielded  by  the  Zakro  pit  bowl  in  Fig.  38.  Here  the  decora- 
tor started  out  with  a spiral  which  he  drew  in  the  orthodox  way  until  he  came 
to  the  outer  coil  which  he  broadened  after  the  manner  of  the  “rock-work” 
pattern.  One  of  these  lobes  he  lengthened  into  a leaf  and  thus  obtained  two 
diverging  lines  between  whichhe  could  start  astalk  in  a semi-naturalistic  fashion. 


' See  Abydos  I,  PI.  LXI,  9.  This  use  of  the  pattern  was  not  abandoned  in  Cretan  art. 
See  the  birds  on  the  seal  stones  in  B.^S.  A.  1903-4,  X,  p.  56,  Fig.  19.  Possibly  the  scale  pat- 
tern on  the  skirt  of  the  goddess  in  J.  H.  S.  1901,  XXI,  p.  108,  Fig.  4,  and  on  the  costume  of 
the  leader  of  the  harvesters  on  the  well-known  Hagia  Triada  vase  {Mon.  Ant.  1903,  XIII 
PI.  I)  where  the  scales  go  the  wrong  way  for  a coat  of  mail,  may  represent  festal  garments  of 
feathers.  But  the  pattern  is  sometimes  used  where  it  did  not  represent  feathers,  e.  g.,  in 
B.S.A.  1900-1901,  VII,  p.  29,  Fig.  9 and  ibid.  1901-1902,  VIII,  p.  107,  Fig.  65. 

^ See  Beni  Hasan  III,  Pis.  II,  7 and  VI,  103. 

^ B.  S.  A.  1902,  3,  IX,  PI.  III.  Compare  Phylokopi,  Pi.  XXIX,  7. 

^ B.  C.  II.  1878,  II,  PI.  XIV,  1. 


34  TRANSACTIONS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 

The  flower  which  he  put  on  the  stalk  is  no  real  flower.  The  only  truly  natural- 
istic element  in  the  design  is  the  pair  of  tendrils  springing  from  either  side  of 
the  stem. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  (p.  27,  footnote)  to  refer  to  the  frescoes  of 
the  villa  at  Hagia  Triada,  which  date  from  the  end  of  this  or  from  the  beginning 
of  the  next  period.  Like  the  most  characteristic  class  of  vases  of  this  period, 
their  designs*  are  highly  naturalistic  in  character.  These  plant  motives — sprays 
of  leaves  and  flowers — Prof.  Halbherr  has  pointed  out^  to  be  local  rather  than 
Egyptian,  so  that  here  again,  in  the  realm  of  wall  decoration,  we  find  evidence 
for  the  originality  of  Cretan  artists. 

Late  Minoan  II. 

We  come  now  to  the  second  division  of  the  Late  Minoan  II  period.  Again 
no  break  in  continuity  separates  this  from  the  preceding  period.  On  the 
contrary,  here,  more  than  elsewhere,  the  transition  from  one  style  to  another 
is  gradual.  The  vases  and  vase  fragments  of  this  period  might  be  arranged 
in  a series,  the  first  member  of  which  would  be  scarcely  distinguishable  from 
the  vases  of  the  Late  Minoan  I period  and  the  last  from  the  Late  Minoan  III 
period.  In  fact,  it  seems  scarcely  possible  to  include  Fig.  48  and  PL  III  in  the 
same  class,  and  yet  they  belong  to  well  defined  groups  which,  as  a whole,, 
could  not  be  put  into  any  other  period. 

The  technique  of  vases  of  this  period  differs  but  little  from  that  of  the 
foregoing  period  except  that  the  decoration  is  now  applied  in  the  dark  glaze 
paint  alone  without  superadded  white. 

Characteristic  of  this  period  are  large  decorated  amphorae  and  pithoi, 
standing,  some  of  them,  as  high  as  1.20  m.  (PI.  II).  The  habit  of  decorating 
large  vessels  gives  rise  to  a showy  and,  as  Dr.  Evans  terms  it,  a quasi  archi- 
tectonic style,  the  beginnings  of  which  may  be  traced  in  the  preceding 
period,  but  the  full  culmination  of  which  takes  place  in  this  epoch.  There 
is  observable  in  this  style,  especially  towards  the  end  of  the  period,  a horror 
vacui  from  which  Late  Minoan  I vases  were  free.  Parallel  to  this  tendency 
toward  stop-gap  ornaments  and  a “close”  style  is  to  be  noted  a change  in 
the  syntax  of  designs.  Designs  are  now  frequently  divided  up  either  verti- 
cally (PL  III),  obliquely  (J.  H.  S.  1904,  XXIV,  PI.  XI),  or  horizontally  {Pre- 
historic Tombs,  p.  158,  Fig.  143).  However,  this  period  at  its  best,  or  as  a 
whole  is  not  decadent.  Fig.  50  and  PI.  II  show  the  rare  artistic  skill  which 
potters  display,  both  in  inventing  designs  and  in  adapting  them  to  the  field 
of  the  vase. 


‘ See  Mon.  Ant.  1903,  XIII,  Part  1,  PI.  VII-X. 
^ Ibid.  cols.  55-60. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


35 


Every  class  of  design  except  complex  non-imitative  is  represented  in  the 
decoration  of  this  period.  In  contrast  with  the  designs  of  the  preceding 
period  it  should  be  noted : (1)  that  the  bulk  of  the  designs  has  now  shifted 
from  the  pure  naturalistic  to  the  conventional  naturalistic  class,  and  (2)  that 
combinations  of  different  kinds  of  design  are  more  frequent.  With  these 
remarks  by  way  of  preface,  we  may  look  at  these  designs  class  by  class. 

Figs.  48  and  49  may  be  cited  as  evidence  that  pure  naturalistic  designs  are 
not  wanting  in  this  period.  The  pea  design  (Fig.  48)  from  the  northwest 
building  at  Knossos  is  typical.  The  shape  of  the  pea  blossoms  has  been  truly 
rendered.  The  stalks  curve  upward  after  the  manner  of  a growing  vine  and 


Fig.  48,  from  B.  S.  A.  1902-3,  IX,  p.  117,  Fig.  72. 

yet  the  artist  has  not  cared  to  draw  the  plant  so  accurately  that  the  spectator 
could  see  at  a glance  what  species  ic  was.  The  realism  here  is  again  of  a 
limited  kind.  Leaves  and  tendrils  are  omitted  from  among  the  blossoms  and 
the  whole  plant  is  set  on  the  same  leafy  stalk  from  which  a palm  or  papyrus 
plant  is  commonly  pictured  as  springing.^  The  same  observation  may  be 
made  of  the  designs  in  Fig.  49.  These  lanceolate  leaves  are  lifelike  and  are 
set  gracefully  on  their  stems,  but  they  grow  as  no  leaves  ever  grew. 

Of  the  marine  designs  in  Fig.  50,  the  Zakro  filler  in  ,/.  H.  S.  1902,  XXII, 
PI.  XII  andthe  va.ses  regarded  by  Mr.  Bosanquct  as  Cretan  importations  into 
Melos  (J.  H.  S.  1904,  XXIV,  PI.  XII),  little  further  comment  is  necessary. 
It  is  important,  however,  to  point  out  the  skill  in  composition  which  they 
display.  In  the  filler  bottle  from  Palaikastro,  for  exam[)le,  the  wider  space 


This  leafy  stalk  goes  back  to  the  Middle  Minoan  II  period.  See  PI.  I. 


36 


TUAXSACTIONS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


on  the  shonlder  is  hik'd  with  a design  of  rock-work  and  seaweed  enclosing  a 
large  star,  while  to  the  narrowing  held  below  are  nicely  adapted  the  tapering 
iniirex  or  Triton  shellsd  The  star  on  the  Zakro  hller  Mr.  Hogarth  thinks 
could  not  be  regardetl  as  a starhsh  since  it  is  treated  much  more  conven- 
tionally than  the  other  forms  of  marine  life  on  the  same  vase.^  This  reason 
for  his  view  does  not  seem  conclusive  inasmuch  as  it  is  characteristic  of  this 
period  to  combine  pure  naturalistic  with  conventional  naturalistic  designs. 
There  is,  however,  good  evidence  to  show  that  the  star  was  a conventional 
or  rather  symbolical  design.  On  a larnax  from  Palaikastro  (B.  S.  A.  1901-2, 
VIII,  Pis.  XVIII  and  XIX)  of  the  succeeding  period,  it  occurs  in  one 
design  without  forms  of  marine  life  and  together  with  the  double  axe  and 
horns  of  worship.  Moreover,  the  eight-rayed  star  and  the  double  axe  are 
often  associated  in  the  signs  which  mark  the  blocks  of  the  Knossos  palace 
{B.  S.  A.  1903-1904,  X,  p.  29).  In  explanation  of  the  design  of  the  Palaikastro 
larnax  8ig.  Savignoni  (Mon.  Ant.  1905,  XIV,  Part  2,  col.  575)  says  that  the 


bird  stands  for  the  human  soul,  the  rock-work  pattern  around  the  border  for 
the  river  encircling  the  world,  and  the  star  and  double  axe  for  the  divine  ruler 
of  light  above.  Without  admitting  all  of  his  theory,  we  may  yet  attribute 
to  the  star  religious  significance.  On  the  Zakro  and  Palaikastro  vases  it 
seems  to  have  been  chosen  not  only  for  its  symbolical  meaning  but  also  for  its 
artistic  value  in  the  design. 

The  most  frecjuently  repeated  of  the  conventional  naturalistic  patterns 
of  this  period  is  the  “leaf  pattern”  (see  PI.  III).  One  reason  for  the  popularity 


^ Compare  Bosanquet,  he.  cit.  p.  .321 . 
2.7.  II.  S.  1902,  XXII,  p.  .334. 


Fig.  49,  from  J.  II.  S.  1903, 
XXIII,  p.  19.5,  Fig.  11. 


Fig.  50,  from  B.  S.  A.  1902-3, 
IX,  p.  311,  Fig.  10. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


of  this  ornament  was  doubtless  that  it  was  easy  to  draw.  A potter  must  have 
been  able  to  put  the  pattern  in  very  rapidly  with  a brush,  especiall}^  in  narrow 
areas  like  the  band  in  PL  III  where  there  were  outer  limits  to  help  to  keep 
the  pattern  even.  Similarly  long  narrow  moulds  for  this  pattern,  into  which 
the  metal  worker  would  hammer  rims  or  border  patterns  on  his  sheets  of 
bronze  or  gold,  cannot  have  been  difficult  to  make.^ 

Groups  of  three  leaves,  generally  hanging  in  pendant  form,  occur  frequently 
in  this  period  both  as  a main  decorative  motive  and  as  a stop-gap  ornament 
(Fig.  67,  Athen.  Mitt.  1886,  XI,  PI.  Ill;  J.  H.  S.  1903,  XXIII,  p.  192,  Fig.  10) 
and  among  the  imported  fragments  at  Phylakopi  {Phylakopi,  PI.  XXXI,  2).' 


In  Fig.  52  appear  various  forms  of  conventional  and  conventionalized 
flowers  which  characterize  this  and  the  following  period.®  The  papyrus 
blossom  (m),  which  is  still  quite  close  to  the  Egyptian  prototype,  and  the 
lily  (fc),  which  is  characteristic  of  Late  Miuoan  I pottery,  seem  to  have  been  the 
types  from  wliich  most  of  these  forms  sprang,  though,  as  might  be  expected, 
the  types  have,  in  many  cases,  become  confused.  The  utter  disregard 
for  consistency  which  Mycenaean  pott('rs  sometimes  display  is  well  illustrated 
in  Fig.  52  1.  The  presence  of  rosettes  within  the  coils  of  the  two  petal'^ 
must  be  explainefl  by  the  habit  of  finishing  spirals  with  rosettes,  while  the 


* See  Frehintori.c  Tombn,  p.  122,  Fig.  ll(i,  and  Schliemann,  Myccrute,  p.  320,  Nos.  482 
unci  483. 

^ Compare  the  trefoils  on  the  .Middle  Minoan  II  sherd  in  Phylakopi,  p.  149,  Fig.  130. 

’ 0,  c,  e,  f and  h are  from  the  sneeeeding  period. 


3S 


TRANSACTIONS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


small  blossom  between  the  flower  and  leaf  is  nothing  else  than  a pea  or  bean 
blossom  (compare  Fig.  48).  If  the  semicircular  fields  of  ornament  in  PI.  Ill 
be  looked  at  from  the  side,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  central  motive  which  Dr. 
Evans  has  .connected  {Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  160)  with  the  double  axe  is 
similar  to  that  in  Figs.  52  j and  56.  It  should  therefore  be  regarded  as  a 
conventional  flower.  A frequent  liorder  pattern  built  up  around  the  same 


Fig.  .52.  a,  c,  e,  f,  h and  in  are  from  J.  H.  S.  1903,  XXIII,  p.  192,  Fig.  10  and 
p.  197,  Fig.  13;  b,  d and  g are  from  Prehistoric  Tombs,  PI.  C,  opp.  p.  156, 

PI.  Cl,  opp.  p.  157  and  p.  158,  Fig.  143;  i,  j and  1 are  from  pottery  found  in 
1900  in  K110S.SOS  houses  by  Mr.  D.  G.  Hogarth.^ 

papyrus  core  is  shown  in  Fig.  53.^  During  this  period  the  tendency  is 
gaining  ground  to  fill  in  the  field  of  the  flower  with  lines  (Fig.  52,  b,  d,  and  i). 
This  tendency  develops  parallel  to  the  horror  vacui  which  indicates  not  only  a 
dearth  of  artistic  inspiration  but  also  the  decline  of  imitative  design.  For 


‘For  permission  to  publish  these  last  designs  and  Figs.  53,  56,  58,  59  and  60,  I am 
indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Hogarth. 

^Compare  the  design  in  the  upper  right  corner  of  the  lower  mould  in  Schliemann, 
Mycenae,  p.  107,  No.  162. 


EDITH  H.  HALL DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


39 


the  potter,  in  filling  the  empty  spaces  between  the  main  lines  of  the  design, 
shows  that  his  thought  is  not  on  the  ornament  he  applies  but  on  the  field 
he  decorates.  The  abundance  of  stop-gap  ornaments  in  this  and  the  succeed- 
ing period  Avould  have  foretold  the  return  of  a geometric  style  of  ornament 
even  if  that  style  had  not  been  known  before  the  art  of  the  bronze  age  was 
revealed.^ 

The  insertion  of  flower  types  within  heartshaped  leaves  (Figs.  54  and  55) 
is  frequent  in  this  as  in  the  preceding  period  (compare  Fig.  36).  The 
explanation  of  the  origin  of  these  patterns  given  on  page  30  will  be  confirmed 
by  a comparison  of  them  with  Fig.  52  1.  The  running  “ ivy  leaf  ” pattern  in 
Fig.  56^  is  to  be  explained  in  the  same  way,  except  that  in  this  case  the 
recurcing  ends  of  the  ivy  leaf  pass  into  the  ends  of  the  flower  itself,  not  into 
the  leaves  below  it. 


Fig.  ,53.  Design  on  a Sherd  from  a Knossos  House. 


The  rock-work  pattern  might  in  this  period  be  quite  as  well  classed 
with  the  non-imitative  as  with  the  imitative  designs,  for  it  is  used  in  the 
majority  of  cases  without  any  thought  of  picturing  the  natural  surface  of  the 
ground.  Most  frequently  it  is  employed  for  decorating  the  necks  of  vessels 
{Prehistoric  Tombs,  PI.  C,  opp.  p.  156  and  PI.  Cl,  opp.  p.  157),  but  it  is  also  used 
in  the  framework  of  a design.®  The  habit  of  using  this  pattern  for  framing 
a design  was  doubtless  formed  in  the  school  of  fresco  painting  (see  Phj- 
lakopi,  PI.  III).  It  seems  to  have  become  so  fixed  that  decorators  continued 
to  apply  it  in  places  where  it  was  quite  inappropriate,  as  on  the  bodies  of  ani- 
mals. Thus  in  the  Tiryns  bull  frc'sco  {Tiryns,  PI.  XIII,  opp.  p.  352)  it  is  applied 
as  if  the  outlines  of  the  bull’s  body  were  to  be  the  frame  for  a picture.^ 

Among  the  non-imitative  patterns,  spirals,  dots,  and  festoons  continue 
in  use  during  this  period.  The  spiral  is  frequently  enriched  bt^  a rosette 


' Compare  11.  M.  Dawkins,  B.  S.  A . 1902-3,  IX,  p.  31(1. 

' Compare  Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  1.58,  Fig.  143. 

® Compare  the  later  larnax  from  Palaikastro  in  B.S.A.  1901-2,  VIII,  Pis.  XVIIl  and 
XIX. 

^Compare  also  the  horses  in  Myk.  17/s.,  PI.  XLI.  Curiously  enough  this  method  of 
deeorating  animals’  bodies  persisted  until  the  sixth  eentury  when  it  ajipears  on  the  Clazo- 
menae  sarcophagi  (e.  g.,  .1///.  Dcnk.  I,  44). 


40 


TRAXSACTIOXS,  departmext  of  archaeology,  u.  of  p. 


within  its  volute  {Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  69,  Fig.  75  and  PI.  C,  opp.  p.  156).  A 
row  of  spirals  to  whicdi  horns  are  added  for  the  sake  of  making  a closer  pattern^ 
is  frequently  used  for  a border  decoration  (PI.  III).  The  quirk,  which  has 
occurred  in  every  earlier  period  and  which  recurs  in  the  next  period  does  not, 
so  far  as  noticed,  occur  now. 

Both  of  the  scale  patterns  described  on  pp.  32  and  33  reappear  in  this  period. 
On  unpublished  sherds  found  i)y  Mr.  Hogarth  in  1900  neai  the  Knossos  ])alace 


Fig.  .54,  from  Prehistoric  Tombs, 
p.  15(),  Fig.  141  b. 


Fig.  55,  from  ,/.  II.  S.  1902, 
XXII,  p.  192,  Fig.  10. 


Fig.  56,  from  a Sherd  from 
a , Knossos  House. 


occurs  the  counteipart  of  the  Egy]itian  scale  pattern  in  Fig.  47  and  again  a 
pattern  similarly  reticulated  but  embellished  by  large  dots  instead  of  by 
stalks.  Especially  characteristic  of  this  period  is  the  other  type  of  reticulated 
pattern,  exam])les  of  which  with  various  central  ornaments  are  shown  in 
Figs.  57  to  59.^  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  favorite  ornament  is  a conventional 
flower,  which  helps  to  give  that  quasi  naturalistic  effect  in  which  Mycenaean 
artists  delighted.  The  trefoil  arches  of  this  pattern  are  used  in  rows  for  a 


' See  Fklgar,  Phijlakopi,  p.  130. 

2 Compare  Myk.  Fus.,  PI.  VI,  32,  XII;  PI.  XXVII,  217;  and  PI.  XXXII,  306,  307,  and 


308. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


41 


border  decoration  (Fig.  59),  and  separately  in  floral  decoration^  to  represent 
rocks  or  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Yet  in  such  design  the  use  of  the  orna- 
ment seems  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that,  because  of  its  shape,  it  made  a useful 
motive  for  filling  in  the  semicircular  space  left  between  the  spreading  leaves  of 
two  plants. 

On  faience  plaques  from  Knossos,  Mycenae,  and  Tel-el- Y eh  udiy eh  in  Egypt 
occurs  a sign  like  the  late  form  of  the  Greek  letter  Alpha  {B.  S.  A.  1899-1900, 
VI,  p.  42;  Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  110,  footnote,  and  J.  H.  S.  1904,  XXIV, 
p.  328).  This  sign  was  evidently  taken  over  as  a decorative  motive  for  pottery 
of  this  period  (see  Fig.  60).  In  some  cases  the  pattern  seems  to  have  been 
confused  with  a flower  type.  The  combination  of  this  motive  with  spirals 
shown  in  Fig.  60  is  repeated  on  Naukratis  ware  (Naukratis,  II,  PL  IX,  5). 


Fig.  57,  from  Athen.  Mitt.  Fig.  58.  Design  on  a Sherd  Fig.  59.  Design  on  a Sherd 
1886,  XI,  PI.  III.  from  a Knossos  House.  from  a Knossos  House. 

The  checkerboard  pattern  which  marks  off  the  field  of  ornament  in  PL 
III  is  noteworthy  for  two  reasons : first,  it  resembles  the  checkerwork  in  the 
architectural  fragment  of  the  "miniature  ” fresco  in  J.  R.  I.  B.  A.  1903,  X, 
third  series,  p.  113,  Figs.  15  and  21,  which  has  already  been  compared^  to 
Egyptian  monuments  of  the  Vth  and  Xllth  dynasties,^  where  generally, 
however,  such  bands  represent  the  architectural  framework  of  a door,  and 
secondly,  it  forecasts  a characteristic  decoration  of  the  Cretan  geometric  style. '* * 
Fig.  61  shows  a mixed  design  of  this  period.  It  is  made  up  of  spirals, 
tendrils,  and  groups  of  blossoms  combined  in  much  the  same  way  as  were  the 
designs  in  Figs.  25  and  38. 

During  the  period  of  the  great  palaces  at  Knossos  and  Phaistos  many  arts 
besides  vase  painting  must  have  flourished.  To  the  skill  of  the  worker  in 


' Oil  the  reverse  of  the  jar  in  PI.  I [. 

^ See  Evans  in  Archaeological  Report  of  the  Egyptian  exploration  fund  1S9!)-1900, 
p.  60  and  Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  160,  footnote. 

^ Deshasheh,  PI.  XXVII;  Ptnhetep  I,  PL  X.Xa;  Peni  Hasan  I,  PI.  .X.WVll  and  ibid. 
IV,  PI.  XXL 

* .\then.  Mitt.  190.1,  XXVIII,  p.  15t)  and  PI.  XVII,  oi>p.  p.  1 It. 


42 


TRANSACTIONS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGT,  U.  OF  P. 


metal  the  lironze  vessels  from  the  northwest  building  at  Knossos  and  the 
swords  from  the  Zafer  Papoura  graves  bear  witness.  The  more  noteworthy 
ornaments  on  these,  the  “leaf  pattern”  {B.  S.  A.  1902-1903,  IX,  p.  124,  Fig.  77), 
the  ivy  leaf  (ibid.  p.  126,  Fig.  SO),  a conventional  lily  {ibid.  p.  127,  Fig.  81), 


AVAr 


/mm 


Fig.  60.  Designs  on  Sherds  from  Knossos  Houses. 


and  spirals  {Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  56,  Fig.  58)  arc  frecpient  in  vase  painting. 
The  design  of  wild  goats  and  lions  on  the  agate  sword  handle  from  a Zafer 
Papoura  tomb  {Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  57,  Fig.  59)  shows  more  affinity  for  the 


Fig.  6],  from  B.  S.  A.  1903-4,  X,  p.  206,  Fig.  4. 


gem  cutter’s  art  , in  which  animals  are  frecjuent  subjects.  The  ground  of  this 
scene,  however,  is  indicated  by  a conventional  representation  of  rocks,  similar 
to  that  in  fresco  painting,  from  which  the  more  cursory  representation  of  the 
vase  painter  was  adopted.  Mr.  Evans  thinks  that  the  “leaf  pattern”  was 
taken^  over  by  potters  from  metal  vases.  This  is  the  natural  course  of  events. 


Prehistoric  Tombs,  pp.  121  and  122. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


43 


that  less  costly  products  should  imitate  the  more  costly,  yet  the  ease  with 
which  this  pattern  can  be  applied  with  the  brush  and  the  fact  that  it  appears 
on  a Zakro  vase  in  the  Late  Minoan  I period  make  it  seem  possible  that  its 
use  in  ceramic  art  is  as  ancient  as  its  connection  with  metal  vases. 

In  the  Zafer  Papoura  graves  near  Ivnossos,  considerable  quantities  of 
jewelry  were  found  of  the  types  known  at  Phaistos,  Mycenae  and  elsewhere. 
In  some  cases  (e.  g.,  grave  36,  Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  58,  Fig.  60)  these  jewels 
were  found  in  graves  assigned  to  the  Late  Minoan  II  period.  But  since  the 
majority  of  these  gold  ornaments  belongs  in  the  Late  Minoan  III  period, 
they  will  be  considered  later  as  an  undivided  group. 

Most  closely  akin  to  the  ceramic  art  in  method  is  the  art  of  fresco  painting, 
especially  during  this  Late  Minoan  II  period.  The  larger  vases  presented  as 
extended  a field  for  decoration  as  that  occupied  by  fresco  pictures.  Such 
jars  as  that  in  PI.  II  were  very  likely  made  to  match  the  decoration  of  the 
room  in  which  they  stood.  Further,  the  smaller  patterns  on  “miniature” 
frescoes,  borders,  and  other  small  areas  of  painted  plaster  offer  many  analogies 
to  the  patterns  used  on  vases. 

On  Late  Minoan  II  frescoes  appear  purely  naturalistic  motives,  like  the 
lily  {B.  S.  A.  1901-1902,  VIII,  p.  92),  sprays  of  leaves  {ibid.  p.  110),  grasses 
{B.  S.  A.  VII,  p.  59),  the  ivy  leaf  (J.  R.  I.  B.  A.  1902,  p.  129,  Fig.  71) 
and  marine  designs  {B.  S.  A.  1901-1902,  VIII,  p.  58),  as  well  as  conventional 
naturalistic  designs  like  marguerites  (J.  R.  I.  B.  A.  1902,  PI.  I),  papyrus 
blossoms  p.  125, Fig.  63), the  leaf  pattern  (ibid.  p.  123,  Fig.  50),heartshaped 
leaves  with  flowerlike  appendages  like  those  in  Fig.  36  (ibid.  p.  117,  Fig.  40, 
p.  125,  Fig.  62  and  p.  130,  Fig.  81)  and  several  designs  like  the  double  axe  and 
horns  of  worship  (ibid.  PI.  II).  Among  the  non-imitative  designs  are  the  scale 
patterns  of  Figs.  57-59  with  various  central  ornaments  (ibid.  p.  123,  Fig.  52 
and  p.  128,  Fig.  69),  spiraliform  ornaments  of  different  types,  including  the 
“horned  spiral”  (ibid.  p.  121,  Figs.  45  and  46) — which  may  well  have  arisen  in 
the  effort  of  the  fresco  painter  to  adapt  a spiraliform  design  to  the  square  field 
of  a ceiling  or  wall — the  spiral  with  a rosette  center  (ibid.  p.  120,  Fig.  43), 
the  checkerboard  pattern  (ibid.  PI.  II),  and  various  simple  linear  patterns, 
known  on  Late  Minoan  I and  Late  Minoan  II  vases. 

Thus  the  repertoires  of  the  potter  and  the  painter  of  frescoes  are 
largely  identical.  The  most  characteristic  patterns  of  the  vases  of  this  period, 
like  the  scale  pattern  and  the  ivy  leaf  types,  are  conspicuous  in  the  designs  of 
frescoes.  Only  one  pattern  on  painted  plaster — the  tooth  ornament — (ibid. 
p.  127,  Figs.  64-67)  does  not  appear  on  vases.  It  is  quite  likely  that  for 
palace  products  at  least,  the  same  artists  were  emjdoyed  to  decorate  both 
walls  and  vases.  However  that  may  be,  it  is  impossil)lc  to  ascribe  to  eitln'r 
vases  or  fresco  painting  a predominant  influence  in  s(‘tting  th('  style  of  deco- 
ration. 


44 


TRAXSACTIUXS,  DEPARTMEXT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


Late  Mixoax  HI. 


And  now,  finally,  we  come  to  that  period  of  “Mycenaean”  culture  widely 
known  from  other  sites  than  Crete.  During  this  period  a style  of  ornamenta- 
tion prevailed,  which,  compared  with  that  used  in  preceding  periods,  is  lifeless’ 
and  uninteresting,  but  which,  nevertheless,  has  given  to  most  people  their 
itlea  of  Mycenaean  art . 

In  this  period  are  included  two  groups  of  vases.  The  one  stands  at  the 
very  beginning  of  the  period  and  marks  the  transition  from  Late  Minoanll  style; 
the  other  stands  at  the  end  of  the  period  and  marks  the  lowest  ebb  of  Myce- 
naean art  just  prior  to  the  rise  of  the  geometric  style.  The  one  group  includes 
pottery  from  block  y in  Palaikastro  (see  table),  from  the  Zafer  Papoura  graves 
at  Knossos,  and  from  the  necropolis  at  Phaistos  (see  table).  It  is  charac- 


terized by  the  “close”  style, ^ the  beginnings  of  which  go  back  to  the 
preceding  period  (see  p.  34).  The  other  group  is  made  up  largely  of  the 
ceramic  remains  of  the  “scpiatter”  civilization  at  Knossos  and  Palaikastro. 
It  is  marked  l)y  the  frequency  of  the  degenerate  octopus  ornament.  In  this 
later  period  there  is  a falling  off  in  the  ciuality  of  both  clay  and  paint.  The 
bugelkanne  is  again  a common  shape. ^ 

Pew  pure  naturalistic  designs  are  in  use  during  this  period.  The  most 
lifelike  f)f  the  decorative  motives  which  occur  are  fishes  and  birds  (Fig.  78, 
Mon.  Ant.  I,  Part  2,  PI.  1]  J.  H.  S.  1903,  XXIII,  p.  198,  Fig.  14;  Mon.  Ant. 
1905,  XIV,  Part  2,  PI.  XXVIII;  Myk.  Vas.  PI.  XIV,  87).  Both  of  these 
motives  have  occurred  occasionally  in  earlier  Cretan  art.  A fish  is  the  main 
decorative  motive  on  a Middle  Minoan  II  vase  in  Mon.  Ant.  1895,  VI,  PI.  IX,  8, 
and  on  a cup  of  the  same  period  from  Gournia.  It  figures  again  on  a Knossos 
vase-fragment  (B.  S.  A.  1902-3,  IX,  p.  115)  of  the  Late  Minoan  II  style  and 
in  the  frescoes  and  among  the  faience  models  of  the  later  palace.  Birds  also 
are  not  unknown  in  earlier  art  (J.  II.  S.  XXIII,  p.  198,  Fig.  14).  But  nowhere 


* B.  S.  A.  1902-.3,  IX,  pp.  .316  and  317. 
■See  Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  121. 


Fig.  02,  from  B.  S.  .4.  1902-3,  IX,  p.  318,  Fig.  17. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECOKATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


45 


in  earlier  art  do  these  motives  assume  the  prominent  position  in  the  jiotter’s 
repertoire  Avhich  they  hold  during  this  period.  In  view  of  the  frequency  with 
which  they  appear  and  of  the  unnatural  juxtaposition  into  which  they  are 
brought  (e.  g.,  Mon.  Ant.  1891,  I,  Part  2,  PI.  I and  ibid.  1905,  XIV,  PI. 
■VXXVII)  they  may  be  regarded  as  symbolical  of  the  heavens  and  of  the 


Fig.  63,  from  B.  S.  A.  1902-3, 
IX,  p.  315,  Fig.  14. 


Fig.  64,  from  B.  S.  .4.  1902-3, 
IX,  p.  319,  Fig.  19. 


sea.*  Something  of  this  symbolical  meaning  may  have  still  been  attached  to 
birds  and  fishes  in  the  geometric  period  when  they  again  appear  in  the  midst  of 
a purely  geometric  style  {Athen.  Mitt.  1903,  XXVIII,  PI.  Ill, — opp.  p.  104, — 
2;  PI.  VI,  2 — opp.  p.  105 — and  PI.  XXXII,  2, — after  p.  192, — etc.). 


Fig.  65,  from  B.  S.  A.  1902-3,  IX,  p.  319,  Fig.  IS. 


The  class  of  design  most  characteristic  of  this  period  is  the  convention- 
alized naturalistic  class.  In  Fig.  52,  d,  /,  g,  h and  j,  are  shown  various  shorthand 
methods  of  rendering  flowers.  The  most  naturalistic  Late  Minoan  III  flower- 
type  is  Fig.  52  h,  which  is  not  far  removed  from  the  lily  in  Fig.  1.  In  the  next 
stage  of  degeneration,  the  row  of  stamens  becomes  a row  of  dots,  while  the 
center  of  the  flower  is  indicated  by  curving  cross-lines  (Fig.  52  j)  or  by  more 

'Compare  the  above  mentioned  view  of  Sig.  Savignoni  in  Mon.  .\nt.  1905,  I’ait  2, 
XIV,  col.  .572  tf. 


4G 


TRANSACTIOXS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


dots  (Fig.  52  g).  Finally  this  cursory  rendering  of  flowers  became  so  habitual 
with  the  potter  that  whenever  two  lines  in  his  design  made  an  angle,  he  could 
not  resist  filling  in  the  angle  with  cross-lines  as  if  it  were  a bud  (Figs.  63-65 
Apx-  1604,  PI.  I,  and  Prehistoric  Toinhs,  p.  22,  Fig.  14,  etc.).  In  Fig.  65 


dots  are  retained  to  indicate  stamens.  The  papyrus  type  of  flower  is  some- 
times clearly  distinguishable  from  the  lily  (Fig.  66,  Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  91, 
Fig.  102,  and  Mon.  Ant.  1891,  I,  Part  2,  PI.  I,  3).  The  smaller  flowers 
between  the  papyrus  leaves  in  Fig.  66  will  be  recognized  as  the  equivalent  of 
the  central  ornament  in  the  semicircular  designs  of  PI.  III.  The  ends  of  this 


Fig.  67,  from  B.  S.  .4.  1902-3,  Fig.  68,  from  Myk.  Fas. 

IX,  p.  214,  Fig.  5.  p.  23,  Fig.  13. 

ornament  are  in  one  case  joined  below  in  a meaningless  circle,  while  the  stamens, 
leaves  and  stem  are  indicated  in  the  linear  method  of  the  period. 

To  the  conventionalized  naturalistic  class  belong  also  the  debased  forms 
of  octopus  and  Triton  shell  prevalent  in  this  period.  In  Fig.  67  the  once  life- 
like octopus  has  been  reduced  “to  a mere  symmetrical  center  to  a continuous 
series  of  curves.”^  The  ornament  in  Fig.  68  is  generally  regarded  as  a 
debased  form  of  mure.x  or  Triton  shell. ^ 

^ Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  127. 

^See  Schliemann,  Mycenae,  p.  138  note;  Fabricius  in  Tiryns,  p.  349;  Hogarth,  J.  H. 
S.  XXII,  p.  337  and  Fig.  16,  and  Evans,  Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  128. 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  ART  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


47 


Finally,  among  the  conventionalized  naturalistic  designs  of  this  period 
should  be  mentioned  the  “rock-work”  pattern  which  is  used  both  to  indicate 
the  surface  of  ground,  as  in  Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  91,  Fig.  102,  and  to  fill  in 
space,  as  in  Mon.  Ant.  1905,  etc.  In  the  latter  case  it  receives  the  same 
cross-lined,  geometric  style  of  treatment  as  that  which  flowers  of  this  period 
undergo. 

Of  the  non-imitative  designs  with  which  we  have  become  familiar  only  a 
few  simple  motives  remain  in  use.  These  are  the  spiral,  the  checkerboard 
pattern  {Mon.  Ant.  1905,  XIV,  Part  2,  PI.  XXXVII),  and  the  quirk.  The 
linked  spiral  design  in  Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  91,  Fig.  102a,  is  evidently,  as  Mr. 
Evans  has  pointed  out  {ibid.  p.  90),  an  adaptation  of  designs  on  contemporary 
Egyptian  chests  and  ceilings. 

Among  the  important  objects  belonging  to  this  Late  Minoan  III  period  are 
numbers  of  small  gold  and  paste  ornaments  closely  analogous  to  those  which 
have  been  found  at  Spata,  Dimini,  lalysos,  and  Mycenae  (see  table,  opp. 
p.  50).  These  finds  come  mainly  from  the  Zafer  Papoura  graves  near 
Knossos  and  from  the  necropolis  at  Phaistos.  The  motives  chiefly  used  for 
their  decoration  are  the  following:  a pair  of  nautili  similar  to  those  which 
appear  on  Late  Minoan  I vases,  arranged  to  fill  a rectangular  area  {Mon.  Ant. 
1905,  XIV,  Part  2,  col.  595,  Fig.  59,  and  Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  130,  Fig.  119); 
butterflies  {Mon.  Ant.  XIV,  Part  2,  col.  601,  Fig.  66);  flowers  {ibid.  col.  597, 
Fig.  61,  and  Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  76,  Fig.  85,  and  p.  130,  Fig.  119);  pairs  of 
spreading  petals  {Mon.  Ant.  1905,  XIV,  Part  2,  col.  599,  Fig.  62) ; rosettes 
{ibid,  and  col.  601,  Fig.  63,  and  Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  130,  Fig.  119);  conven- 
tionalized lilies  {Mon.  Ant.  XIV,  Part  2,  col.  609,  Fig.  78)  leaves  of  the  ivy 
or  heartshaped  type  with  central  ornaments  and  triangular  attachments  to 
fill  the  intervals  between  the  leaves  {^ibid.  col.  611,  Fig.  80,  and  col.  614,  Fig. 
81) ; spirals  with  similar  attachments  {;ibid.  col.  609,  Fig.  78) ; an  ornament 
consisting  of  a single  pendant  spiral  or  curl  {ibid.  col.  614,  Fig.  82);  lobes  of 
the  scale  pattern  of  Fig.  62  {ibid.  Fig.  83);  and  the  sacred  shield  {Prehistoric 
Tombs,  p.  44,  Fig.  41). 

The  designs  of  these  small  ornaments  arc  exactly  those  with  which  we 
have  become  familiar  on  vases.  Only  one  or  two,  the  pendant  curl  and  the 
butterfly,  are  foreign  to  the  potter’s  repertoire  of  patterns.  The  prevalence  of 
these  designs  in  these  minor  arts  of  gold  and  paste  ornaments  may  have  aided 
in  fixing  the  type  of  such  motives  as  the  conventional  lily,  the  ivy  leaf  and  the 
nautilus.  Goldsmiths  are  not  so  liable  to  careless  workmanship  as  potters. 
In  some  cases  a reacting  influence  from  the  designs  of  jewelry  may  have  been 


'Compare  Schliemann,  Mycenae,  p.  No.  278  and  p.  199,  No.  30:i.  anil  B.  C.  II. 
II,  PI.  XV,  3,  4 and  5. 


48 


TRANSACTIONS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  U.  OF  P. 


exerted  on  vases.  The  strings  of  buds  in  Mijk.  Vas.  PI.  XXXIV,  336,  look 
lik(‘  the  necklace  of  gold  lieads  in  the  form  of  buds  which  is  shown  in  Mon. 
An(.  190.3,  XIV,  Part  2,  col.  597,  Fig.  61. 

Conclusion. 

The  designs  which  we  have  examined  record  some  two  thousand  years  of 
artistic  development.  At  the  lieginning  of  this  period  man’s  instinct  for 
balance,  rhythm,  aiul  harmony  is  satisfied  by  the  simplest  linear  geometric 
ornament,  notably  by  the  zigzag.  The  established  use  of  the  brush  is  influential 
in  the  transfonnation  of  this  rectilinear  into  curvilinear  ornament  and  many 
exj)eriments  in  curvilinear  decoration  follow  in  the  Early  Minoan  III  period. 
Among  them  are  motives  which  look  like  natural  objects  and  gratify  the 
primitive  instinct  for  imitative  art.  Conventional  naturalistic  designs,  thus 
casually  begun,  continue  throughout  the  Middle  Minoan  II  period  with  growing 
realism;  but  more  typical  now  is  non-imitative  ornament,  which  includes  a 
large  variety  of  simple  motives  as  well  as  complex;  designs  constructed  for  the 
sake  of  balance,  rhythm,  and  harmony.  Some  of  these  non-imitative  designs 
reach  a high  degree  of  artistic  merit,  while  others  are  crude  and  fantastic. 
The  prevalence  of  this  class  of  design  is  parallel  to  the  use  of  polychromy.  In 
the  Middle  Minoan  III  period  pure  naturalistic  designs  supersede  non-imitative 
designs.  Their  introduction  is  to  be  attributed  in  part,  to  Egyptian  influence, 
but  Cretan  designers,  trained  by  long  practice  in  artistic  arrangement  of  line 
and  color,  are  able  to  secure  more  naturalistic  as  well  as  more  decorative  effects 
than  Egyptian  artists.  This  change  to  a naturalistic  style  is  effected  on 
jiottery  which  for  technical  reasons  must  be  regarded  as  the  direct  descendant 
of  Middle  Minoan  I and  II  ware.  Moreover,  the  non-imitative  patterns  of 
preceding  periods  are  frequent  still,  so  that  no  violent  break  can  be  assumed 
before  the  introduction  of  the  naturalistic  style.  In  the  succeeding  Late 
Minoan  I period  the  same  naturalistic  style  prevails,  and  various  new  ways 
of  combining  naturalistic  motives  are  invented.  A large  stock  of  non-imitative 
motives  inherited  from  the  early  and  middle  periods  are  also  in  use.  In  the 
period  of  the  great  palaces  at  Knossos  and  Phaistos,  conventional  and  con- 
ventionalized flowers  replace,  in  part,  naturalistic  motives.  The  beginning  of 
a tendency  to  divide  up  the  fields  into  small  areas  is  observable.  In  the  Late 
Minoan  III  period,  designs  are  neither  adapted  from  nature  nor  invented,  but 
iiLstead  debased  forms  of  naturalistic  motives  are  unintelligently  copied.  The 
artist’s  chief  concern  is  to  pack  with  ornament  the  panels  or  zones  into  which 
he  divides  his  fields.  Such  a system  of  decoration  not  only  indicates  lack  of 
artistic  originality  but  also  heralds  the  approach  of  a purely  geometric  style. 

The  statement  of  Professors  Furtwiingler  and  Loscheke  quoted  on  page  5 
had  rc'fcrence,  it  will  be  remembered,  to  vases  with  lustrous  paint.  This  class 


EDITH  H.  HALL — DECORATIVE  \RT  OF  CRETE  IN  THE  BRONZE  AGE. 


49 


of  vases  is  in  general  equivalent  to  the  vases  of  the  three  Late  Minoan 
periods,  when  naturalistic  designs  prevailed  over  every  other  kind  of  orna- 
ment. Consequently  the  statement  that  these  designs  were  in  the  main 
naturalistic  is  quite  in  accord  with  what  we  have  found  to  be  true.  But  the 
derivation  from  weaving  of  the  non-imitative  motives  used  during  this  period 
is  not  now  plausible,  for  it  is  clear  that  the  quirk,  the  ripple  motive,  the 
festoon,  and  most,  in  fact,  of  the  non-imitative  patterns,  were  native  to  vases. 
Moreover,  imless  due  importance  is  attached  to  the  earlier,  non-imitative 
designs,  the  most  characteristic  features  of  “Mycenaean”  ornament  will  not 
be  rightly  understood.  For  the  skill  which  artists  of  the  Late  Minoan  periods 
display  both  in  arranging  naturalistic  motives  with  a maximum  of  decorative 
effect  and  in  combining  imitative  and  non-imitative  motives  with  a maximum 
of  lifelike  effect,  must  be  attributed  to  their  inheritance  from  earlier  periods 
when  designs  were  made  solely  for  the  sake  of  balance,  rhythm,  and  harmony 
of  line. 

Edith  H.  Hall. 


•}.* 


V, 

\ , , ■ ‘ 


TABLE  GIVING  CLASSIFICATION  OF  CRETAN  BRONZE  AGE  DESIGN. 


d S S 
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3 p 

5 ® tad 


PLATE  I. 


Two  decorated  jars  of  the  Middle  Minoan  II  per- 
iod. Erom  Mon.  Ant.,  1905,  XIV,  Part  II,  PI. 
XXV. 


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Two  Decorated  Jars  of  the  Middle  Minoan  II  Period 
From  Mon.  Ant.  1905,  XIV,  Part  2,  PL  XXXV. 


PLATE  II. 


Decorated  Vase  of  the  Late  Minoan  II  period. 
From  the  British  School  Annual,  1902-3,  IX,  p.  139, 
Fig.  88. 


.11  li'TAJu 

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TRANS.  DEPT.  ARCH.  UNIV,  PA.,  VOL.  II. 


PL.  II. 


Decouated  Vase,  Late  Minoan  II  rEuion. 

Heptoduced  from  the  British  School  Annual,  lUO'd-S,  IX,  p.  L‘^9,  88. 


PLATE  III. 


Decorated  Vase  of  the  Late  Minoau  II  period 
From  Prehistoric  Tombs,  p.  159,  Fig.  144. 


.Ill  sTAJs; 


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TRANS.  DEPT.  ARCH.  UNiV.  PA.,  VOL,  I!. 


PL.  III. 


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